The Federal Government (FG) has unveiled 12 agreements with unions of academic and non-academic staff in universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.
Education Minister Tunji Alausa announced the agreements on 13 October. He said they are meant to end the disputes that disrupt school calendars.
What the agreements contain
The agreements cover eight unions: ASUP, COEASU, SSANU, NASU, NAAT, SSANIP, NOTSUP and SSUCOEN. Alausa named them only by their abbreviations.
Two new allowances come with the agreements. One is the Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance, or CATA. The other is the Consolidated Non-Teaching Tools Allowance, or CONTTA. Both take effect on 1 January 2026.
Alausa said the agreements carry strengthened oversight to ensure full implementation. He did not say who will carry out the oversight or how it will work.
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He said the new agreements work like the earlier “landmark ASUU Agreement”. Like that deal, they introduce CATA and CONTTA.
Alausa commended the unions and the negotiating committee, which Alhaji Yayale Ahmed, CFR, chaired. He also thanked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, for his leadership in making the agreements possible.
Students and the ranking plan
Alausa said unresolved agreements and industrial disputes have disrupted academic calendars for too long. He said students end up spending five, six or even seven years on programmes meant to last four.
He said the agreements do more than improve staff welfare. They will support uninterrupted learning, more effective institutional management and improved academic stability, he said.
The minister also mentioned a proposal called the Nigeria Higher Education Ranking and Assessment Classification, or NHERAC. He said: “we are laying the foundation for stronger, more accountable tertiary institutions.”
Alausa did not say what NHERAC will measure or when it would start.
He summed up the aim of the agreements in two lines. “Our goal is simple: better-supported staff, better-run institutions and students who graduate on time.”
He then said: “A four-year course must be a four-year course.”
WHAT READERS SHOULD KNOW
Alausa did not give the value of CATA or CONTTA. He also did not say how much the 12 agreements will cost the Federal Government.
NHERAC is a proposal. Alausa gave no date for when it could be approved or put to use.
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