University lecturers across Nigeria have called on the Federal Government to institutionalise a funding framework for retired professors similar to those currently enjoyed by former permanent secretaries, judges and senior military officers, under which beneficiaries receive pension payments equivalent to their final salaries in service.
The call follows the recently signed agreement between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), which provides for a 40 per cent salary increase for lecturers, enhanced academic earned allowances and improved welfare packages aimed at stabilising the country’s long-troubled public university system.
Under the new agreement, senior professors are entitled to a monthly allowance of N140,000, while associate professors are to receive N70,000 monthly. One of the most far-reaching provisions guarantees that professors who retire at the statutory age of 70 will receive a pension equivalent to their full annual salary at the point of retirement.
While the agreement has been widely welcomed as a breakthrough capable of reducing the cycle of strikes that has paralysed Nigerian universities for decades, it has also generated debate about the long-term sustainability of the pension provision, particularly in the absence of a clearly articulated funding mechanism.
Speaking exclusively with PUNCH Online, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration), Edo State University, Iyamho, Prof. Ben Ugheoke, said professors would not be the first category of public servants to benefit from such an arrangement and urged the Federal Government to be deliberate and methodical in implementing the new salary and pension structure.
“Professors who retire at 70 will not be the first to benefit from an arrangement where an employee retires with a pension equivalent to their full salary at retirement,” Ugheoke said. “Judges do, permanent secretaries do. The critical question now is how the scheme is implemented for those categories of retirees. Can the same model be adapted and deployed for retired professors?”
Ugheoke argued that rather than portraying the arrangement as unprecedented or unsustainable, policymakers should examine existing pension models within the public service and align the professorial scheme with established best practices.
For Dr. Hashim Suleiman, a senior lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, concerns about the Federal Government’s ability to meet its obligations under the agreement are misplaced and unnecessarily alarmist.
“The fears are far-fetched and largely the result of moral panicking,” Suleiman told PUNCH Online. “For once, this government has done something tangible by breaking the long-standing and wilfully enforced jinx of taking academics for granted, as was the case under previous administrations.”
Questioning why the sustainability debate seems focused on academics, Suleiman added, “Which fears exactly? Is it because this is about Nigerian academics? What about the retirement packages of generals, judges and political elites? Those arrangements have existed for years without generating this level of anxiety.”
Echoing similar sentiments, a lecturer in the Department of Public Administration at the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Abuja, Dr. Oboromemi Weinoh, urged Nigerians to give the Federal Government the benefit of the doubt as it moves to implement the new agreement.
“The progress achieved so far is commendable, and I anticipate the full implementation of the recently signed agreement,” she said. “Regarding the funding mechanism, I do not foresee major challenges. I believe the Federal Government would have thoroughly considered this aspect before endorsing the agreement.”
Weinoh noted that the provision of lifetime salary-equivalent pensions for professors does not create a new precedent within the Nigerian public service. “Federal permanent secretaries and judges already benefit from similar arrangements. The current administration appears to be proactively addressing the long-standing issues between the Federal Government and ASUU, and I am optimistic about successful implementation,” she added.
In the same vein, a lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication at NOUN, Abuja, Dr. Nathan Emmanuel, praised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for prioritising lecturers’ welfare in the agreement, describing the pension provision as both thoughtful and strategic.
“I genuinely commend the Federal Government for guaranteeing professors who retire at the statutory age of 70 a pension equivalent to their full annual salary,” Emmanuel said in a telephone interview with The PUNCH. “It is not only a welcome development but also a deliberate and well-considered policy that reflects an understanding of the unique career trajectory and service demands of the professorial cadre.”
Addressing claims that the arrangement violates existing pension laws, Emmanuel dismissed such assertions as inaccurate. “Contrary to some claims, this decision does not breach the Pension Reform Act 2014. Rather, it reinforces it. The Act accommodates this kind of entitlement by placing responsibility on the employer, in this case the Federal Government, to make up any shortfall where contributory pension savings are insufficient.”
He further argued that suggestions the policy undermines the contributory pension scheme are exaggerated. “The contributory pension system was designed to address the problem of unfunded pension liabilities, not to abolish legally established retirement rights. What applies to professors is a statutorily recognised exception, not a wholesale return to the old defined benefit system.”
From an actuarial perspective, Emmanuel maintained that the policy is manageable. “When viewed realistically, the number of professors who benefit from this arrangement is relatively small, predictable and actuarially manageable when compared with the wider public service,” he said.
He added that the policy represents a fair acknowledgment of the sacrifices made by academics over decades. “Considering Nigeria’s average life expectancy, the limited number of academics who actually retire at age 70, and the long-standing challenges professors have faced—delayed salaries, poor research funding, frequent strikes due to unmet obligations and harsh working conditions—this policy is neither excessive nor unsustainable.”
For many stakeholders, the agreement marks a significant attempt to address deep-rooted problems that have plagued Nigeria’s public university system for decades. Chronic underfunding, decaying infrastructure, overcrowded classrooms and laboratories, inadequate research grants and poor staff welfare have been persistent features of the sector.
These challenges have repeatedly triggered industrial actions by ASUU, leading to prolonged university closures and severe disruptions to academic calendars. Between 1999 and 2023, ASUU embarked on numerous strikes, some lasting several months, largely over issues of funding, university autonomy and conditions of service.
Lecturers have long complained that inflation has eroded their salaries, earned allowances are often delayed, and retirement packages are weak, leaving many academics financially vulnerable after decades of service.
The latest agreement with the Federal Government is therefore widely seen as a critical step towards restoring stability and confidence in the university system. However, analysts note that its long-term success will depend largely on the government’s ability to institutionalise a transparent and reliable funding framework for the pension provision, comparable to those already in place for other senior public office holders.
As implementation begins, attention is likely to focus on whether the Federal Government can translate the promises in the agreement into durable policy, thereby ensuring that improved welfare for lecturers becomes a sustained reality rather than another cycle of unmet commitments.
