The 40 per cent salary increase approved by President Bola Tinubu for university lecturers has triggered fresh industrial unrest across the country, with lecturers in some institutions already on strike and others threatening to down tools over delayed implementation.
While some universities have commenced payment, others are negotiating with their managements and state governments, leaving lecturers in several institutions without the new salary more than eight months after the agreement was reached, Sunday PUNCH can report.
The development has raised fresh concerns about the stability of the country’s tertiary education system, barely eight months after the Federal Government and ASUU reached a new agreement intended to address the perennial disputes over lecturers’ remuneration, allowances, funding and other conditions of service.
Under the agreement, the 40 per cent salary increase was to take effect from January 1, 2026, alongside revised allowances and other provisions aimed at improving the welfare of university academics.
The latest development followed the National Executive Council meeting of ASUU held at the University of Abuja on August 8 and 9, where the union directed its branches in 20 defaulting universities to issue 14-day ultimatums to their authorities over the implementation of the agreement.
