THE Congress of University Academics (CONUA) has warned of potential disruptions across Nigeria’s universities if the Federal Government fails to address outstanding welfare issues plaguing academic staff. 

In a statement signed by its national president Comrade ‘Niyi Sunmonu, on Tuesday, November 5, the union raised alarm over withheld salaries, unpaid promotion arrears, and financial strain on lecturers due to stagnant pay amidst rising costs of living.

CONUA expressed frustration over the government’s refusal to release three and a half months’ salaries, a consequence of last year’s ASUU-led strike, despite CONUA members not participating in the industrial action. 

They further argued that penalising its members contradicts a July 2023 National Industrial Court ruling that affirmed the union’s independence and is a direct violation of the Trade Disputes Act, which protects workers’ wages in lock-out situations. 

This, the union insists, not only undermines the integrity of the court’s decision but also demoralises law-abiding lecturers.

Of ASUU, CONUA and FG

The ICIR reported that ASUU downed tools over unmet demands by the Federal Government, including a 2009 agreement with the lecturers, which the government failed to implement.

ASUU went on strike for eight months – from February 14 to October 14.

In what many Nigerians saw as a plan to weaken ASUU, the Buhari government approved the request by CONUA, a breakaway ASUU faction, to be recognised as a labour union. The government also certified the new body during the last ASUU strike.

ASUU consequently called off its strike ten days after CONUA’s certification, executed by the former Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chris Ngige.

The government vowed it would not pay ASUU for the period its members were on strike but would pay CONUA, which it said did not participate in the strike but was forced out of classrooms because ASUU ‘shut the universities’.

However, with the emergence of Bola Tinubu as the president, Tinubu in October 2023, waived the “No Work, No Pay Policy” of the Federal Government and approved the release of four of the eight months’ salaries of ASUU members withheld by the administration of the former President Muhammadu Buhari’s government.

Tinubu, in a statement released by his former Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, revealed that the waiver “will allow for the previously striking members of ASUU to receive four months of salary accruals out of the eight months of salary which was withheld during the eight-month industrial action undertaken by the union.”

Consequently, the ASUU chairperson of Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Muhammad AlMustapha, confirmed to The ICIR that the members of the union had begun to receive salaries for March and April 2023 while others were waiting for their turn.

But CONUA, who opted out of the strike, have claimed that they have not received the withheld salary of three and a half months.

CONUA warns of impending disruption 

The union, while criticising the government’s continued withholding of three and a half months’ salaries, maintained that it was unjust to penalise its members for the shutdown of schools.

The union also referenced a July 2023 National Industrial Court ruling that affirms CONUA’s independence as a union. 

“The President should note that withholding the three and a half months salaries of members of CONUA, who neither declared nor participated in any strike action, also contravenes Section 43 (1b) of the Trade Disputes Act CAP. T8, which states that “where any employer locks out his workers, the workers shall be entitled to wages and any other applicable remunerations for the period of the lock-out and the period of the lock-out shall not prejudicially affect any rights of the workers being rights dependent on the continuity of the period of employment”. 

“This provision is consistent with global best practices. In conclusion, CONUA demands that failure to process and pay this outstanding salary could throw the Universities into serious crises, and the peace, currently being enjoyed could be jeopardised,” the union stated.

Unpaid arrears 

CONUA further addressed the government’s recent implementation of a 35 percent and 25 per cent salary increase for tertiary institution staff, but noted that arrears covering January to December 2023 remain unpaid. 

“The Union is using this medium to demand for the immediate payment of this outstanding arrears. Financially debilitated, psychologically challenged, and dispirited lecturers cannot be expected to concentrate on their mentally tasking and physically exhausting tasks of teaching, research, and community service which constitute the mandate of academics.

“This point is particularly quite critical in the light of the unprecedented developmental challenges, which are being created and will be created by the policy measures that are being put in place by the Tinubu administration,” the union’s president said.

Exclusion from the renegotiation committee 

Adding to the tension, CONUA raised concerns over its exclusion from a government renegotiation committee constituted last month, demanding inclusion to ensure fair representation for its members.

The union stated that continuing to make decisions without their input is equivalent to “shaving the heads of its members in their absence.”

Beyond salaries, the union revealed that lecturers are still awaiting promotion arrears and that federal payments for earned academic allowances have been sporadic and insufficient, covering only a fraction of the agreed sessions.

CONUA urged the government to reconsider the hasty implementation of the new 18-year minimum admission age, warning that an abrupt rollout could upend the education system.