Public universities across Nigeria may be heading toward another period of instability as tensions grow between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) over the implementation of the 2025 agreement reached after months of negotiations.

What began as optimism following the January 2026 unveiling of the FGN/ASUU pact is now turning into frustration among lecturers, with union leaders warning that delays, inconsistent payments and unresolved welfare issues are rebuilding the same pressures that previously shut campuses nationwide.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities, University of Jos branch, on Monday warned that the Federal Government’s failure to fully implement the December 2025 agreement with the union could trigger another round of industrial unrest in Nigerian public universities.

Speaking during a press briefing in Jos after a congress meeting and recent National Executive Council deliberations held at Modibbo Adama University in Yola, ASUU chairman Prof. Jurbe Joseph Molwus accused the government of showing weak commitment to the agreement.

According to him, one of the major concerns is the continued delay in inaugurating the Implementation Monitoring Committee expected to oversee compliance with the agreement across federal and state universities.

Molwus said several universities have only partially implemented approved allowances, while others have yet to begin payment entirely.

The affected payments include the Consolidated Academic Tool Allowance, Earned Academic Allowance, Professorial Allowance and Responsibility Allowance.

“While some universities have implemented two or three of these allowances, others have not even commenced implementation,” Molwus said.

He blamed both federal and state governments for inadequate funding and accused some state governments of attempting to distance themselves from agreements they were actively involved in negotiating.

However, he commended Sa’adu Zungur University, Gadau, and Ekiti State University for making visible progress in implementing parts of the agreement.

A closer look at the union’s statement shows the disagreement extends beyond unpaid allowances.

Molwus criticised the Federal Government’s creation of the National Research and Innovation Development Fund, arguing that the initiative ignored provisions already agreed upon in the 2025 pact.

He questioned why the proposed fund was denominated in foreign currency, warning that such a framework could deepen Nigeria’s dependence on multinational lenders and external borrowing institutions.

The union also raised unresolved welfare concerns, including:
• arrears linked to the 25/35 per cent wage award,
• promotion arrears,
• salary shortfalls connected to the IPPIS platform,
• unremitted third-party deductions,
• and the controversial withholding of three-and-a-half months’ salaries during the 2022 ASUU strike.

ASUU insists the withheld salaries remain unjustified because lecturers eventually completed the academic workload lost during the industrial action.

However, the deeper issue is the growing trust deficit between the government and university unions.

Nigeria has witnessed repeated cycles of agreements, delayed implementation, strikes and emergency negotiations over the past two decades. Each unresolved dispute further weakens confidence in policy commitments and damages the reputation of the country’s public university system.

The union also criticised recent government policy directions in education.

Molwus described the reported reversal of the mother-tongue education policy as retrogressive and opposed plans linked to transnational education partnerships, including proposals involving Coventry University establishing a Nigerian campus.

He argued that such arrangements risk weakening local institutions instead of strengthening them.

ASUU additionally rejected discussions around scrapping some humanities and social science courses, insisting that all academic disciplines contribute to national development and social stability.

That framing reveals another layer to the conflict: the disagreement is increasingly becoming ideological, not merely financial.

Nigeria’s university system has experienced multiple ASUU strikes in recent years, including the lengthy 2022 industrial action that disrupted academic calendars nationwide.

The repeated shutdowns have produced long-term consequences:
delayed graduations,
• increased student migration to private universities,
• higher education costs for families,
and declining confidence in public tertiary institutions.

Education analysts warn that another prolonged dispute could accelerate the movement of middle-class Nigerian families toward private and foreign institutions, further widening inequality in access to quality education.

For students in rural and low-income communities, public universities remain the only realistic path to higher education. Continued instability therefore carries broader social implications beyond campus politics.

The Federal Government now faces growing pressure to prevent another nationwide university disruption before tensions escalate.

What authorities do next will determine whether the 2025 agreement becomes another unresolved chapter in Nigeria’s long-running university crisis or a turning point toward stability.

For many students already dealing with economic hardship and uncertainty, another prolonged shutdown could deepen frustration across campuses nationwide.

And for ASUU, the warning issued in Jos appears intended as an early signal — one that the union says should not be ignored this time.