Victor EzejaThe Nigerian government has said it is ready to offer 25.5 per cent salary increase to university lecturers and 35 percent to professors.
The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu announced this on Tuesday while speaking during the meeting with vice-chancellors and other stakeholders in the university system.
Adamu disclosed that President Muhammadu Buhari warned that no agreement which the government will not be able to meet should be signed.
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He said, “The Federal Government can only afford a 23.5% salary increase for all categories of the workforce in Federal Universities, except for the professorial cadre which will enjoy a 35% upward review.
“Henceforth, allowances that pertain to ad-hoc duties of the academic and non-academic staff shall be paid as at when due by the Governing Councils of Universities to which such services are rendered and to the staff who perform
them.
“That a sum of 150 billion Naira shall be provided for in the 2023 Budget as funds for the revitalization of Federal Universities, to be disbursed to the Institutions in the First Quarter of the year, and that a sum of 50 billion Naira shall be provided for in the 2023 Budget for the payment of outstanding areas of earned academic allowances, to be paid in the First Quarter of the year”.
The meeting was held following the recent decision of the academic union to roll over its indefinite strike which started on February 14 this year over the inability of the government to meet its demands.
Pro-chancellor of the National Open University of Nigeria, Professor Peter Okebukola who spoke at the end of the meeting, said the government was ready to go all out to ensure that the university lecturers return back to school.
Adamu, however, indicated that ASUU has rejected the offer by the Federal Government, as being inadequate in meeting their demands, adding that the government has done the best that it can.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
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