Pecohub Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK) has begun the immediate rollout of critical aspects of the 2025 agreement reached between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
With this development, the institution becomes the first among 74 other federal government-owned universities to implement the pact since its signing on December 23, 2025, and public presentation a fortnight ago.
This was revealed on the social media handle of ASUU, where the union quoted UNIZIK’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Bond Anyaehie, announcing that the enhanced allowances are being funded through the university’s internally generated revenue (IGR), beginning with increased honorarium for external assessment of academic staff.
Under the agreement, the federal government is responsible for allowances related to undergraduate activities, including industrial training supervision, field trips, teaching practice, and external moderation, while university governing councils are to fund postgraduate supervision and external moderation from IGR. The honorarium for external moderation has been increased from N50,000 to over N200,000.
The move was widely welcomed by academic staff and the ASUU-UNIZIK leadership, who described it as a good omen and a strong sign of cooperation between university management and the union.
The deal also provided for a 40 per cent salary increase for lecturers effective January 1, 2026, and a restructuring of nine earned academic allowances, now clearly defined and linked to specific academic duties.
With a growing number of federal universities set to roll out their respective components of the agreement in the coming weeks, attention has shifted to the 67 state-owned universities, where questions are being raised about the readiness of state governments and state universities, and their capacity to implement similar commitments.
Reacting to the development, a stakeholder, Ekun Femi, expressed concern that the situation could trigger a significant exodus of academic staff from state-owned universities in search of better working conditions and improved welfare packages.
He warned that such a trend would further weaken state universities, many of which are already grappling with inadequate funding, poor infrastructure, and irregular salary and allowance payments.
According to him, the inability of state governments to fully implement agreements reached at the national level could make their institutions less attractive to highly qualified lecturers.
