In bid to weaken the Academic Staff Union of Universities the Federal Government on Tuesday has registered two academic unions to operate in the university system.
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige told news reports in Abuja that the new unions, the National Association of Medical and Dental Academics (NAMDA) and the Congress of Nigerian University Academics (CONUA) will co-exist with ASUU.
CONUA, a breakaway faction of ASUU, is led by its National Coordinator, ‘Niyi Sunmonu, a lecturer at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife.
ASUU has been on strike for over seven months due to the inability of the Federal Government to renegotiate the agreement it signed with ASUU in 2009 including adequate funding of the system, replacement of the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS), with the UTAS, as the payment platform in the university sector But the Federal government has been unable to resolve the issue.
In August the FG obtained a judgement at the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, urging the lecturers to return to the work, but ASUU has since given a notice of an appeal and has vowed to continue with the strike.
