Get Guardian on GooglePresident Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the plan from the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, to resolve some of the lingering issues between the Federal Government and university teachers countrywide.
Specifically, the Minister’s proposal to clear the overdue Earned Academic Allowances (EAA) owed to academic and non-academic staff of federal universities has received the nod of the President and the disbursement has since commenced, fulfilling a promise made by the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration.
In the first disbursement, N50 billion has now been paid to the universities, and lecturers have started receiving their allowances.
The payment, which comes after almost 20 years of agitation and unmet promises, is being widely celebrated as a turning point in government-labour relations in Nigeria’s tertiary education system.
Speaking in a statement widely circulated among academia and stakeholders, Prof. Yemi Oke, a respected academic from the Faculty of Law at the University of Lagos, commended the Tinubu administration for keeping a promise many believed would never be fulfilled.
“The real issue here is not the quantum or the sum. It is the thoughtfulness, sincerity, and integrity of fulfilling a promise that was not even made by him, but which he took personal responsibility to settle,” he said.
Recall that the Federal Government’s intervention was first announced by the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, on April 23, 2025. He revealed that ₦50 billion had been released to settle EAA owed to university staff, describing the move as “a reaffirmation of President Tinubu’s belief in the capacity of Nigerian youths and the invaluable role that academic and non-academic staff play in nurturing them.”
