CONUA Declares: We Won’t Join ASUU’s Proposed Strike

The Congress of University Academics (CONUA) has announced that its members will not take part in the planned nationwide industrial action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) if the union proceeds with a strike next Monday as threatened.

The ASUU leadership issued a new threat of strike on Monday, September 29th, providing the Federal Government until October 13 as a 14-day ultimatum to fulfil its long-standing demands, or it will instruct its members across the nation to cease work indefinitely.

In an exclusive interview with Tribune Online over the weekend, the National President of CONUA, Dr Niyi Sunmonu, who is a faculty member at Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) in Ile-Ife, stated that CONUA does not support strike action as a method to compel the government to address any issues.

He mentioned that while ASUU has the legal right to seek resolution with the government through various means, including strikes, CONUA does not believe that strikes are the most effective way to elicit a positive response from the government, especially given the declining standard of education in the country.

CONUA is an independent union that split from ASUU and was registered during Dr Chris Ngige’s tenure as Minister of Labour and Employment and has been operating independently since.

While expressing that the future of Nigeria and its citizens is heavily reliant on the quality and stability of the university system, Sunmonu noted that repeated strikes severely compromise the prospects of improving Nigeria’s current economic difficulties.

He clarified that even though successive governments have not fulfilled their constitutional duties to the citizens, including university personnel, lecturers should not contribute to exacerbating the country’s challenges.

Sunmonu accused the Federal Government of showing bias and favouring ASUU over other staff unions within the university framework, stating that government discussions with ASUU while excluding others from negotiations on issues affecting all university faculty and staff cannot be accepted by CONUA.

He emphasised that any agreement resulting from the 2009 Agreement Renegotiation would not be binding on CONUA members.

“In light of the fact that we were not included in discussions with anyone, we cannot be expected to participate in any strike to which we had no contribution,” he explained.

Sunmonu asserted that CONUA is prepared to legally contest the Federal Government if a new agreement is reached with ASUU without involving CONUA.

He clarified that CONUA does not harbour envy towards ASUU but believes it is time for the government to stop neglecting other unions and treat ASUU as if it is the sole union within the university sector.

He pointed out that since the 2009 Agreement was made on behalf of all academic staff in Nigerian public universities at that time, it is reasonable to expect that the current reality of having three recognised academic unions should have entailed including all affected stakeholders in the discussions.

He contended that “the renegotiation of the 2009 Agreement is not just about revisiting previous commitments but about shaping the future of academic labour relations, working conditions, and institutional stability in Nigeria’s higher education system.

“That’s why it is fundamentally inappropriate and untenable for a single union to represent the interests of others in a diverse union framework, as we presently have in Nigeria,” he concluded.