It also retains the existing arrangement under the 2009 agreement, which places responsibility for funding both the capital and recurrent costs of staff primary schools in federal universities on the government.
On university governance, the agreement supports broader representation of university employees on governing councils and recommends amendments to the Universities Act to accommodate more inclusive participation.
It also grants governing councils the authority to establish directorates based on the specific operational needs of their respective institutions.
To strengthen institutional capacity, the agreement encourages universities to maintain adequate staffing levels in line with regulatory standards and international best practices.
It also identifies staff training and professional development as a priority, recommending that universities prepare annual capacity-building programmes for employees at the beginning of every year.
On funding, both parties advocated increased government investment in higher education while encouraging universities to expand their internally generated revenue through consultancy services, ICT centres, entrepreneurship programmes, research farms, science laboratories, libraries and other commercial ventures.
The agreement also commits SSANU to working closely with governing councils to improve internally generated revenue while promoting transparency and accountability in the management of university resources.
The newly signed agreement replaces the 2009 Federal Government-SSANU agreement, which remained overdue for renegotiation for several years and frequently featured among the issues that fuelled industrial disputes in Nigeria’s public university system.
Beyond salary-related concerns, SSANU had consistently pushed for the removal of the career progression ceiling affecting degree-holding non-teaching staff, arguing that many qualified employees were unable to attain the terminal grade level despite meeting promotion requirements.
The signing of the agreement comes amid renewed calls by the union for the Federal Government to fulfil other outstanding labour commitments, including the payment of the two-month wage award and the implementation of the 40 per cent peculiar allowance for federal public servants, which SSANU says are necessary to sustain industrial peace in the nation’s universities.
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