University lecturers across Nigeria have urged the Federal Government to fund professors’ pensions using a framework similar to that applied to retired judges, permanent secretaries, and military generals, where beneficiaries receive retirement benefits equivalent to their last 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, enhanced academic earned allowances, and improved welfare conditions for lecturers.
Under the agreement, senior professors are entitled to a monthly allowance of N140,000, while associate professors will receive N70,000.
The deal also guarantees that professors who retire at the statutory age of 70 will earn a pension equivalent to their full annual salary at retirement.
While the agreement has been welcomed as a step toward ending the cycle of industrial action that has disrupted Nigeria’s university system for decades, concerns have been raised about the sustainability of the pension provision in the absence of a clearly defined funding mechanism.
Speaking on the issue, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration) of Edo State University, Iyamho, Prof. Ben Ugheoke, noted that professors would not be the first category of public officers to benefit from such an arrangement.
“Judges and permanent secretaries retire on full salaries. The key issue is implementation. If the model used for them can be applied to professors, then sustainability should not be a problem,” he said.
A senior lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Dr. Hashim Suleiman, dismissed fears surrounding the pension scheme, describing them as exaggerated.
According to him, the current administration has demonstrated political will by ending years of neglect of university academics and should be trusted to implement the agreement.
Similarly, a lecturer at the National Open University of Nigeria, Abuja, Dr. Oboromemi Weinoh, urged Nigerians to give the Federal Government the benefit of the doubt, noting that lifetime salary arrangements already exist for other categories of public servants.
She described the agreement as a positive step toward resolving long-standing disputes between the government and ASUU.
Another NOUN lecturer, Dr. Nathan Emmanuel, commended President Bola Tinubu for prioritising lecturers’ welfare, insisting that the pension provision does not violate the Pension Reform Act.
He explained that the contributory pension scheme allows employers to cover any shortfall in retirement benefits and that the professorial pension arrangement represents a lawful exception rather than a reversal to the old defined benefit system.
Dr. Emmanuel added that the number of professors eligible for the full pension is relatively small and manageable, especially when compared with other public-sector pension obligations.
He argued that the policy acknowledges decades of sacrifice by academics who have worked under difficult conditions, including poor funding, delayed salaries, inadequate research support, and frequent industrial disputes.
For decades, Nigeria’s public universities have struggled with chronic underfunding, decaying infrastructure, overcrowded classrooms, and poor staff welfare, challenges that have repeatedly triggered prolonged strikes by ASUU.
Stakeholders say the latest agreement offers an opportunity to stabilise the university system, but note that the long-term success of the professorial pension provision will depend on the Federal Government’s ability to establish a transparent and sustainable funding model similar to those already in place for other senior public officials.
