The Federal Government has unveiled the 2026 agreements reached with staff unions in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions, pledging to honour its commitments and work towards improved staff welfare and uninterrupted academic calendars.
The agreements cover the Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance (CATA) for members of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) and the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU), as well as the Consolidated Non-Teaching Tools Allowance (CONTTA) for non-teaching staff unions in universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.
The allowances take effect from January 1, 2026, in line with the agreements and applicable implementation guidelines.
The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, said the agreements represented an important step towards improving staff welfare, restoring trust between government and unions, and ensuring stability in the nation’s tertiary education system.
He acknowledged the role of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in facilitating the agreements, saying his support and direction had enabled the government to address longstanding challenges affecting the education sector.
According to Alausa, previous agreements with tertiary institution unions had often been followed by delayed, incomplete or unfulfilled commitments, resulting in renewed disputes and prolonged industrial actions.
He noted that the disruptions had affected academic calendars, with students losing valuable time and families bearing additional costs, while teaching and research activities were also adversely affected.
Alausa said the latest agreements were intended to give practical expression to Tinubu’s pledge that students enrolled in four-year programmes should be able to complete them within four years, stressing that the success of the agreements would, however, depend on faithful and timely implementation.
“The CATA and CONTTA allowances would provide support for the professional and operational needs of eligible personnel, while recognising the link between the welfare of education workers and the quality of tertiary education.
“Staff welfare must also encompass fair treatment, transparent promotion processes, occupational safety and opportunities for career advancement,” he said.
To strengthen implementation and monitoring, the Federal Government announced the expansion of the existing Implementation and Monitoring Committee (IMC) for the agreement with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
The expanded committee will become a single IMC responsible for monitoring agreements involving academic and non-academic staff unions across tertiary institutions.
Its membership is expected to be broadened to include representatives of the various unions and other relevant stakeholders.
The committee is expected to monitor agreed milestones, assess progress, address implementation challenges and promote accountability through periodic reports on achievements and outstanding obligations.
The government said implementation must be timely and transparent, adding that potential difficulties should be identified and resolved early to prevent them from undermining trust or disrupting academic activities.
Alausa urged agencies, governing councils and institutional managements to comply with the implementation guidelines, maintain accurate records and cooperate fully with the monitoring committee.
He also urged union leaders to keep their members informed and channel emerging concerns through the agreed mechanisms.
