FG, SSANU, NASU seal renegotiated 2009 agreement

 

 

The federal government has formalised the renegotiated 2009 agreement with the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU), five months after it did so with the Academic Staff Union of Universities.

The agreement was signed by Mohammed Ibrahim, SSANU president, and Peters Adeyemi, Monday, NASU general secretary in Abuja, on behalf of the unions, while Yayale Ahmed, former secretary to the government of the federation, signed for the government.

Ahmed chairs the federal government tertiary institution expanded negotiation committee, reconstituted in October 2025 by Tunji Alausa, the minister of education.

ASUU’s renegotiation was concluded on January 14, but SSANU and NASU had accused the government of treating the unions unevenly in the process, a grievance that fuelled rising tension on campuses.

Recall that BusinessDay reported in May that the unions’ Joint Action Committee (JAC) embarked on a strike over delays in concluding the talks, suspending the action after a week on the government’s assurance that negotiations would be fast-tracked.

The SSANU and NASU leaders warned then that they would resume the strike if no resolution emerged within two weeks.

Monday’s signing closes that chapter and signals a de-escalation of tension in the tertiary education sector.

According to persons familiar with the negotiations, the agreement covers revised salary structures, higher allowances, and improved conditions of service for non-teaching staff, alongside university governance reforms and commitments to fully implement past collective bargaining agreements — issues that had long been sticking points for the unions.

It also provides for the settlement of outstanding arrears and allowances, after the unions had earlier rejected the government’s unilateral wage offers and held out for a negotiated outcome.