The Federal Government has registered two new academic unions in the public university system, to exist alongside the striking Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
The new unions are the Congress of Nigeria University Academics (CONUA), and the National Association of Medical and Dental Academics (NAMDA).
ASUU has been on strike since February 14, in a long-drawn battle with the Federal Government over the non-implementation of agreements reached on lecturers’ welfare.
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, who presented the certificates to the unions yesterday in Abuja, the new unions will exist alongside with Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), in the spirit and tenets of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Core Convention Nos. 87 & 98.
He said with their registration the two unions are now entitled to all rights and privileges ascribed to unions and will be given access to those rights by the government and university authorities.
Liberalising unionism
Ngige said the move will help liberalize the academic sub-sector and allow for freedom for university workers.
He said: “These conventions are respectively on Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to organise and Collective Bargaining.
“This is as well as the enthronement of the four pillars and principles of the Decent Work Agenda (DWA), considered necessary for social justice and equity in the world of work.”
He equally expressed sadness over the lingering ASUU strike despite the Federal Government’s efforts to resolve it through the Education Ministry, following two conciliations on February 22 and March 1.
He also recalled that the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) had granted an order of interlocutory, directing ASUU to go back to work, but the leadership and its members refused to obey the court order.
He noted that many of the lecturers in the public universities had indicated their willingness to get back to work while negotiations continue but were obstructed by ASUU officials.
In view of this registration, you are entitled to all rights and privileges accruable to a union of similar status, which include the right to receive check off dues of members. You can now go back to your institutions and open the doors of your classrooms to teach the students.
Implication of registration
Justifying their registration, Ngige said: “It is worthy to note that some medical doctors who are teachers in the various medical schools/Colleges of Medicine had carried on with teaching in the University of Maiduguri, Bauchi and Sokoto and had graduated their new doctors in the midst of the ASUU strike.
“This group of lecturers had since been applying to have their own academic associations registered as trade unions to organise their members because they do not share in the models, objectives, modus operandi, mission and vision of ASUU.
“The Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment in the discharge of her mandate in the management of employment relationships and the administration of Trade Unions to ensure harmonious industrial relations system in the nation has decided to approve the registration of two more Trade unions in the Nigerian University academic sub sector.
“The University sub-sector is a major development plank of any nation’s Socio economic growth.
“In view of this registration, you are entitled to all rights and privileges accruable to a union of similar status, which include the right to receive check off dues of members. You can now go back to your institutions and open the doors of your classrooms to teach the students.”
Prior to today, the peculiarity of the medical and dental training was increasingly emasculated, triggered by bodies that capitalised on the lack of a voice for medical and dental practitioners in academics particularly in the university system.
New unions are upbeat
The National Coordinator of CONUA, Niyi Sumonu, promised that they will work to ensure that Nigeria is not traumatised again by strikes.
He noted that his members were never on strike, adding that they would appreciate it if the federal government prevailed on the school authorities to reopen the institutions for normal academic activities.
Similarly, the President of NAMDA, Dase Lancy Oriue, said the registration has given the association a legal voice in determining the training requirements, management of the training system, and the welfare of members in the institutions.
He explained that Medicine and Dentistry are very sensitive professions, which require a well programmed, uninterrupted and hands-on training
“Prior to today, the peculiarity of the medical and dental training was increasingly emasculated, triggered by bodies that capitalised on the lack of a voice for medical and dental practitioners in academics particularly in the university system.
“With this registration, a platform has been created for medical trainers/teachers to start the process of gradual reversal to the known normal medical training environment that was punctured in the early 2000s,” he said.
