The Congress of University Academics (CONUA) has declared that its members won’t participate in the proposed nationwide industrial action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) if the union should go on strike by next Monday as being threatened.
ASUU leadership issued the fresh strike threat on Monday, September 29th, given the Federal Government till Octobe 13 as a 14-day ultimatum to address its long-standing demands otherwise will order members nationwide to stay off work indefinitely.
The National President of CONUA, Dr Niyi Sunmonu, a faculty member of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, in an exclusive interview with Tribune Online at the weekend stated that CONUA does not believe in strike action as a weapon to get government addressing any grievances.
According to him, even though ASUU has the legal right to pursue its grievenaces with the government using various approaches including strike action, CONUA does not believe that strike is the best option to get government favorable response, especially now that the country’s education standard is fast falling.
CONUA is a breakaway group from ASUU and registered as an independent union during the tenure of Dr Chris Ngige as a Minister of Labour and Employment and since functioning independently.
While noting that the future of Nigeria and its people depend largely on the quality and stability of the university system, Sunmonu observed that constant strikes seriously undermine the hope of lifting Nigeria out of economic woes its currently facing.
He explained that even though successive governments have failed in their constitutional responsibilities to the citizens including the university workers, the lecturers should not help in deepening the country’s woes.
Sunmonu however, accused the Federal Government of being biased and discriminatory all along against CONUA and other staff unions in the university system outside ASUU.
He said government discussing with ASUU only leaving others out of such negotiation on issues that concern all the university lecturers and other workers as if others are not important would never be accepted by CONUA.
He said that is why any resolution that comes out of the 2009 Agreement Renegotiation would never bind on CONUA members.
“So, since we were not brought to the table with anybody for discussion, we can’t be expected to join any strike that we don’t have any input in,” he said.
Sunmonu declared that CONUA is ready to challenge the Federal Government through legal means if fresh resolution is reached with ASUU without CONUA input.
He said it is not that CONUA is envying ASUU but that it’s high time government stopped neglecting other unions and focusing on ASUU as if it is the only union in the university system.
According to him, since the 2009 Agreement was entered into on behalf of all academic staff in Nigerian public universities as at that period, it is expected that the current reality of having three recognized academic unions in the system should have naturally meant that all the stakeholders that are affected should be carried along.
He argued that “The renegotiation of the 2009 Agreement is not just about revisiting past commitments, but about shaping the future of academic labour relations, service conditions, and institutional stability in Nigeria’s higher education sector.
“That is why it is grossly inappropriate and untenable for one union to represent the interests of others in a plural union environment, as we currently operate in Nigeria,” he concluded.
