Education
The 2009 ASUU Agreement and the FGN’s Endless Broken Promises
The 2009 ASUU Agreement and the FGN’s Endless Broken Promises
When the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) voluntarily signed a historic agreement with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in 2009, there was genuine hope that public universities would be repositioned for global relevance. The pact promised revitalisation funds, improved welfare for lecturers, and a renewed commitment to education as the true foundation of national development.
Fifteen years on, those promises remain unfulfilled. The ink on the agreement may have long dried, but the government’s failure to honour it has left deep scars. Instead of flourishing, Nigerian universities have continued to wither, with ivory towers of learning decaying into ruins of neglect.
The 2009 agreement was not merely a policy paper. It was a solemn covenant. It offered lecturers improved conditions of service, research allowances, and infrastructural development capable of elevating Nigerian universities to compete globally. Yet, successive administrations have treated it casually—like a ceremonial handshake that meant everything at the moment, but nothing afterwards.
Year after year, education is pushed to the margins of the national budget, with allocations falling far below UNESCO’s recommended benchmark. The excuse has always been “scarce resources.” Yet, while government pleads poverty when it comes to funding education, billions are consistently allocated to political offices, motorcades, and other recurrent extravagances.
The greatest tragedy in government’s inaction lies in the human cost. For every strike triggered by insincerity, students lose precious years. A four-year programme drags into six. Parents bear heavier financial and emotional burdens. Many brilliant students and lecturers flee to foreign universities, enriching other nations while Nigeria loses its best brains.
The 2009 agreement has thus become symbolic of a wider Nigerian malaise: plenty of rhetoric, very little action.
ASUU is often vilified for its strike actions, with critics accusing the union of punishing students. But what options remain when government consistently refuses to keep its promises? For ASUU, strikes are never a first choice but a last resort—an alarm bell rung in desperation, in a country where silence is always met with indifference.
Even so, the endless cycle has worn lecturers down. Morale is low, and many have traded chalkboards for better opportunities abroad, leaving behind a system starved of its brightest intellectuals.
Beyond financial excuses, the refusal to honour the 2009 agreement exposes a deeper problem: Nigeria’s chronic undervaluing of education. A nation that fails to invest in its universities cannot hope to build a competitive economy or an innovative society. Instead, it recycles crises, bequeathing broken systems and limited opportunities to its youth.
At this point, it is no longer enough to renegotiate or sign fresh memoranda of understanding. What ASUU needs is sincerity and commitment. Government must begin to view education not as a drain on resources but as the most important investment in the nation’s future. The 2009 agreement must not remain a relic of unfulfilled promises. It must be implemented in full—with urgency and honesty.
The Federal Government’s failure to honour the 2009 ASUU agreement is not just an administrative oversight; it is a national betrayal. Unless education is treated with the seriousness it deserves, the cycle of strikes, broken promises, and wasted futures will continue.
The real victims are not politicians or policymakers, but the poor students whose only dream is to be educated.
By Prof. Mainasara Yakubu Kurfi
Department of Mass Communication, Bayero University, Kano
Email: mykurfi@gmail.com
About The Author
The wife of Katsina State Governor, Zulaihat Radda, said no girl should miss school due to menstruation, intensifying efforts to promote hygiene and girls’ education across the state in the region.
Radda spoke during distribution of sanitary pads to schoolgirls under the Renewed Hope Initiative led by First Lady, Sen. Remi Tinubu, in Katsina on Tuesday as part of major outreach programme.
She said the programme targeted challenges faced by schoolgirls, especially in rural communities, who often skipped classes due to lack of access to sanitary products and basic hygiene education support services.
Radda described the situation as unacceptable, stressing menstruation should never be a barrier to education or personal dignity for any girl in the state at any time or under any circumstances.
She urged society to ensure no girl missed classes because of menstruation, adding every girl deserved a safe and supportive learning environment to thrive and achieve her full potential without fear.
“Under the initiative, about 10,000 schoolgirls will receive a year’s supply of disposable sanitary pads as part of a nationwide intervention targeting 370,000 beneficiaries nationwide to improve menstrual health outcomes overall.”
She said the programme aimed to provide hygiene products while restoring confidence among young girls and eliminating stigma often associated with menstruation in communities through awareness campaigns and stakeholder engagement efforts.
Radda called on local authorities to ensure effective distribution of items, urging community leaders and stakeholders to support and monitor the process for transparency and accountability across benefiting schools and communities.
She appealed to corporate organisations and well-meaning Nigerians to partner government in expanding the initiative’s reach and sustaining support for girls’ education statewide in underserved rural and hard to reach areas.
Health Commissioner Musa Adamu-Funtua, described the initiative as timely and important for improving hygiene practices and overall well-being of young girls across the state while promoting public health outcomes for future.
NAN
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A political support group, Tinubu/Dikko Assured (TDA 2027), has launched a free computer training programme for 2,250 Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) candidates across Katsina State.
The initiative was meant for candidates whose registration was sponsored by the campaign group, under the leadership of Umar Ahmad-Zayyad.
The training was officially launched for more than 1,000 students from Katsina Zone, on Thursday, at the state Institute of Technology and Management (KTSIM).
Speaking at the event, the Katsina State Coordinator of the group, Ibrahim Khalil, explained that the initiative is just one of several programmes being implemented by the organisation.
Speakers at the event commended the efforts of the organisation, particularly its commitment to promoting educational development in the state.
The state Deputy Chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Bala Musawa, urged the candidates to remain focused and take full advantage of the training.
According to Musawa, such attention will enable the beneficiaries to achieve the intended objectives of the programme.
Member representing Katsina Local Government in the State Assembly, Aliyu Abubakar-Albaba, commended the gesture, calling on other groups to also emulate.
In his remarks, TDA patron, Dr Muttaka Rabe-Darma, assured adequate support to equip the candidates with the required knowledge that will help them to pass the examination.
Also speaking, the TDA leader, Zayyad-Ahmad, pledged to sponsor the first school registration for those who score 200 marks or above in the examination.
NAN
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The Katsina State Government has taken a decisive step toward strengthening safety in schools across the state, with the inauguration of a Steering Committee on Safe Schools.
The programme, held on Thursday in Katsina, was supported by the Education Cannot Wait (ECW) project, aimed at domesticating and implementing the National Safe Schools Policy (NSSP).
Speaking at the event, the Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Yusuf Suleiman, described the inauguration as a landmark moment in the state’s efforts to ensure that every child learns in a safe, secure environment free from fear, violence, and other threats.
According to him, the state government recognises that meaningful learning can only take place where safety, dignity, and protection are guaranteed for both students and educators.
He reiterated that education remained a top priority of the administration of Gov. Dikko Radda, noting that the government had continued to invest in policies and programmes aimed at improving the welfare of children and strengthening the education system.
Suleiman pointed out that schools across the state face a range of risks, including insecurity, natural hazards, and other forms of violence, stressing that addressing such challenges requires coordinated efforts among relevant stakeholders.
The commissioner explained that the newly inaugurated committee would provide strategic leadership and coordinate efforts among government ministries, security institutions, civil society organisations, development partners and local communities.
He added that the steering committee would also oversee the domestication and effective implementation of the NSSP in the state.
Suleiman assured that the state government was fully committed to domesticating the policy to ensure the protection of school environment and uninterrupted learning for children across the state.
He also acknowledged the role of development partners, especially Save the Children International (SCI), which implements the ECW project, and UNICEF, in supporting the initiative.
Earlier, the Deputy Director of Programme Influencing at Save the Children, Badar Musa, said the initiative follows Nigeria’s endorsement of the Safe Schools Declaration in 2015.
According to him, the declaration provides a framework and minimum standards for protecting schools nationwide.
Musa explained that states across the federation were encouraged to establish steering committees to domesticate and implement the policy at the state level.
He commended Katsina State for taking the step, describing it as a demonstration of strong commitment to child protection and school safety.
According to Musa, Katsina will become the fifth state in the country to domesticate the NSSP once the process is completed.
He stressed that schools must remain safe spaces for learning and warned against the use of school facilities as operational bases by security forces.
The deputy director noted that such actions could expose students and teachers to risks during attacks.
He further highlighted the role of the National Safe Schools Response Coordination Centre, which monitors threats and coordinates interventions aimed at preventing attacks on schools.
The commissioner said the centre had successfully prevented hundreds of attempted attacks on schools across the country between February 2023 and December 2025.
NAN
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