A splinter group of university lecturers, the Congress of University Academics (CONUA) has called on the Federal Government to recognise and register it, so that it can end the strike monopoly held by Academic Staff Union of Universities.
National Coordinator of CONUA, Dr Niyi Sunmonu, said during a news conference in Abuja that liberalisation of academic unions would end incessant strikes in universities.
He said the liberalisation would also engender cross-fertilisation of ideas, nurture healthy competition and protect the interests of all stakeholders.
“What we have noted over the years is that ideas are usually muffled,’’ he said.
Sunmonu stressed that there was nothing wrong in having two to four unions in universities as Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution assures freedom of association.
He added that CONUA was birthed by academics across universities in February 2018 and it applied for registration as a trade union at the Ministry of Labour and Employment in April 2018.
He recalled that the minister held a public meeting with CONUA delegates on Nov. 19, 2020, where he appointed a committee to conclude the review of registration of CONUA.
“We are aware that the committee has since submitted its report. We have therefore been waiting to hear from the government about our registration,’’ he said.
Sunmonu stressed that “CONUA is not a frivolous union, but an assemblage of visionary and courageous academics with immense potential to stem decline in university image.’’
In his remarks, CONUA’s National Publicity Coordinator, Dr Ernest Nwoke, said the monopoly enjoyed by ASUU had been responsible for incessant strikes in universities.
“For more than 40 years ASUU has enjoyed a monopoly in Nigerian universities.
“There is no ripe time than now for the liberalisation of academic unions to put an end to strikes in the universities,’’ he said.
NAN reports that ASUU has gone on strike for more than 1,417 days since 1999, translating to almost four years cumulatively.
