The Federal Government has agreed to inject an additional N30 billion into Nigeria’s 74 federal universities over the next three years as part of a freshly renegotiated agreement with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
The “Stabilisation and Restoration Fund” will be disbursed in three equal annual instalments of N10 billion from 2026 to 2028.
The funds, which are supplementary to the universities’ regular annual budgetary allocations, will be managed by the National Universities Commission (NUC).
The agreement, which addresses long-standing issues of infrastructure decay, teaching and research facilities, also includes commitments to progressively raise the education sector’s share of the national budget toward the UNESCO-recommended 15%, with an annual increment of 2.5%.
It further specifies that 50% of the education capital budget should go to universities and reaffirms the existing policy of no tuition fees for undergraduate students in federal institutions.
Stakeholders have welcomed the intervention but stressed that success will depend on transparent management, accountability, and sustained funding beyond the three-year period.
Despite the provisions, critics point out that the proposed 2026 national budget allocates N3.52 trillion to education out of N58.47 trillion representing only 6.02%, a figure many describe as far below what is required for meaningful transformation of the sector.
Meanwhile, the Congress of University Academics (CONUA) has explicitly distanced itself from the FG-ASUU agreement.
In an exclusive interview, CONUA National President Dr. ‘Niyi Sunmonu called on the government to urgently fast-track separate negotiations with all recognised university-based unions to ensure comprehensive and inclusive solutions for the sector.
Dr. Sunmonu reaffirmed CONUA’s legal standing, noting that the union is duly registered and recognised by the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) as well as relevant International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions.
He dismissed any notion of merger or absorption into other unions, describing such suggestions as baseless.
The FG-ASUU deal, which also includes a 40% salary review for lecturers effective January 1, 2026, is seen by some as a significant step toward ending years of industrial unrest rooted in the unresolved 2009 agreement.
However, with multiple academic unions now operating, the need for broader engagement across the sector remains a key concern for lasting stability in Nigerian universities.
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