In what appears to be a strategy to whittle down the influence of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), the federal has formerly registered two new university trade unions in a bid to forcefully reopen the country’s universities that have been locked for eight months due to strike by ASUU
They are the Congress of Nigerian University Academics (CONUA) and National Association of Medical and Dental Academics (NAMDA).
With the registration, Nigerian universities now have three unions – ASUU, CONUA, and NAMDA.
Speaking while presenting the certificates of registration to the two unions, the minister of labour and employment, Dr Chris Ngige explained that the two bodies will exist alongside ASUU and would be entitled to all rights and privileges ascribed to unions.
He also said they will be given access to those rights by the government and university authorities.
He added that the move will help liberalise the academic sub-sector and allow for freedom for university workers.
Ngige further said CONUA’s registration became necessary because the members do not believe in the current strike by ASUU adding that the congress had been seeking registration since 2018.
The minister said the ministry had set up a committee to look into the merit of CONUA’s application and “has now approved the application having passed the basic minimum requirements.”
For NAMDA, he said the association had applied for registration as medical teachers in the university system under various groups.
He said the professionals in the association include medical doctors doing pre-clinical teaching of basic medical courses and honorary consultants teaching clinical students in tertiary health institutions and teaching hospitals.
“In view of the above, I Senator Chris Nwabueze Ngige, in the exercise of the power conferred on me as the honourable minister of labour and employment, do hereby approve the registration of – Congress of Nigeria University Academics (CONUA), and Nigeria Association of Medical and Dental Lecturers in Academics (NAMDA)”
“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,” he said.
“In view of this registration, you are entitled to all rights and privileges acruable to union of similar status which include 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,” Ngige said.
The minister also disclosed that more unions in the universities would be registered in due course.
“Yes, that is what the law says, but there is another proviso that the Minister can register new unions where the existing one no longer serves the purpose it was established.
“We registered pensioners in the contributory pension as a breakaway from the Nigerian Union of Pensioners (NUP) when it was becoming too big and there was restlessness everywhere among the pensioners. The NUP went to court, but the court said the minister was right in registering another union. I can tell you that after these two new unions, others are coming and we will register them if they meet the requirements,” he added.
In his remarks, the national coordinator of CONUA, Mr. Niyi Sumonu assured the minister that they will work to ensure that Nigeria is not truamatised again by strike.
He said its members were never on strike, adding that they would appreciate if the federal government will prevail on the school authorities to reopen the institutions for normal academic activities.
President of NAMDA, Dase Oriue said the registration had given medical and dental academicians in the university and other tertiary institutions where training of medical students and postgraduate doctors takes place a legal voice in the determination of the training requirements, management of the training system, and the welfare of her members.
He stated 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.
