In a renewed effort to end the long-standing 2009 ASUU agreement dispute, a crucial meeting is scheduled to take place in Abuja today, with the federal government expected to present a counteroffer to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
The aim is to turn years of stalled renegotiations into firm, implementable commitments.
Reliable sources revealed that the Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa, will join the Minister of Labour, representatives of the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC), and the Solicitor-General to meet ASUU leaders.
The meeting will focus on how to finally implement the renegotiated 2009 FGN–ASUU agreement and the reports from the most recent negotiation round.
According to officials, the session is expected to produce a clear timetable for signing and phased implementation.
The urgency stems from repeated warnings by ASUU branches nationwide that their patience has run out, following the conclusion of a renegotiation process in December 2024 and its submission to government in February 2025.
Union leaders have insisted that the draft agreement must now be signed and implemented to prevent another nationwide shutdown of public universities.
At a recent briefing in Abuja, the Zonal Coordinator of ASUU, Abuja Zone, Prof. Al-Amin Abdullahi, emphasised that the union had honoured its commitments and expects government to “demonstrate seriousness by adopting the report without delay.”
The 2009 agreement—signed during the administration of the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua—remains the foundation of the dispute.
It promised wide-ranging reforms, including revitalisation funding for public universities, institutional autonomy, a negotiated salary and welfare package for academics, and a monitoring mechanism for implementation.
However, its partial or outright non-implementation by successive governments has triggered recurring strikes.
Analysts estimate that since 1999, cumulative industrial action by ASUU and other unions has cost the education system the equivalent of nearly five years of lost academic time, weakening confidence in Nigeria’s higher education.
Today’s meeting is expected to confront pressing challenges. Sources in both the ministries of education and labour confirmed discussions will centre on aligning the Yayale Ahmed draft concluded in December 2024 with the original 2009 text and subsequent recommendations—such as the Nimi Briggs report—while mapping phased fiscal commitments into the national budget and producing a legally binding agreement for signature.