Federal university lecturers across Nigeria are experiencing a blend of temporary relief and lingering anxiety following the Federal Government’s clearance of five months of outstanding allowances.
While the payment has brought immediate financial respite to academic staff and eased tensions across several campuses, major university unions caution that deeper structural and funding challenges remain unresolved within the tertiary education sector.
The development became evident as multiple federal universities began clearing long-standing salary and allowance backlogs.
Speaking to Nigerian Tribune, Professor Adelaja Odukoya, former Lagos Zonal Coordinator of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Lagos (University of Lagos), confirmed that the institution had fully settled all outstanding salaries and allowances tied to recent Federal Government–ASUU agreements.
According to him, similar payment trends are likely being replicated in other federal universities, bringing rare relief to academic workers nationwide.
Corroborating the development, Dr. Niyi Sunmonu, National President of the Congress of University Academics (CONUA) and lecturer at the Obafemi Awolowo University (Obafemi Awolowo University), disclosed that the Federal Government had also cleared accumulated components of the Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance (CATA), alongside other statutory allowances.
He further noted that some university managements, which had previously relied on internally generated revenue (IGR) to offset these payments, have now refunded their accounts following direct federal intervention.
However, despite the financial relief, union leaders warn that uncertainty still clouds the future of university funding in Nigeria.
Professor Odukoya expressed concern over what he described as a “palpable fear” among academics, arising from suspicions that the Federal Government may be shifting the burden of salary payments to individual institutions.
Under this model, universities would be expected to depend heavily on internally generated revenue to pay staff salaries and allowances—a move unions argue is unrealistic and unsustainable.
“This is a tall order,” Odukoya said, stressing that most Nigerian universities lack the financial capacity to shoulder such recurring obligations independently.
Beyond the recent payments, several long-standing disputes remain unresolved, including the 25% and 35% wage award arrears, promotion allowance backlogs, and the controversial three-and-a-half months’ withheld salaries from the 2022 industrial action.
Odukoya described the withholding of salaries as unjust, arguing that academic duties had already been completed and students affected by the disruption have since graduated.
The Congress of University Academics (CONUA) has echoed similar demands, insisting on the full payment of the withheld salaries.
However, Dr. Sunmonu presented a different legal perspective, noting that CONUA members did not officially embark on strike action at the time and continued working until university closures were enforced.
“We have done all the work that the strike did not allow us to do back then,” he said. “All our students have graduated. We are not forfeiting the money.”
On other outstanding allowances, CONUA disclosed that the Federal Government has pledged to include the arrears in the 2026 national budget, while urging the Ministry of Education to expedite administrative processes to ensure timely implementation.
Sunmonu also warned against delays at institutional levels, noting that vice-chancellors must not use bureaucratic bottlenecks as an excuse to withhold payments once funds are released.
Despite the recent financial intervention, lecturers maintain that deeper mistrust between government and academia persists, warning that continued neglect of university funding could have long-term consequences for Nigeria’s intellectual and developmental future.
“When government wants to unjustly punish its critical labour force and intelligentsia through barefaced cheating, the country is playing with its developmental future,” Odukoya warned. “The country will sooner than later pay for this misadventure in thousandfold.”
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