Prof. Adesola Nassir (middle), ASUU Lagos Zonal Coordinator
The Academic Staff Union of Universities has dismissed the federal government’s proposed 35% salary increase, insisting it fails to address the long-standing rot in university funding.
At a briefing in LASUED, ASUU Lagos Zonal Coordinator, Prof Adesola Nassir, described the offer as “wretched” and out of touch with the realities facing academics.
Nassir argued that the increment leaves Nigerian lecturers among the least paid in Africa. He noted that a professor who earned about $3,000 per month in 2009 now takes home roughly $400 per month.
Even with the proposed raise, he said a professor’s salary will not reach one million naira before tax, and drops to about 700,000 naira after deductions, a situation he warned fuels brain drain and declining academic standards.
ASUU also criticised the federal government’s persistent underfunding of education, with current allocations falling below 1% of GDP. Nassir contrasted this with countries such as Egypt and South Africa, which allocate far higher percentages to the sector.
He urged Nigerians to support ASUU’s call for substantial investment in universities. The union cautioned that without concrete commitments to implement the 2009 agreement, the nation risks another indefinite shutdown of public universities.
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