On Tuesday, the federal government announced that it had registered the Congress of University Academics (CONUA) as a recognised trade union.

Chris Ngige, minister of labour and employment, said that the government had registered CONUA alongside the Nigeria Association of Medical and Dental Lecturers in Academics (NAMDA).

According to Ngige, the FG decided to approve CONUA’s registration to discharge the ministry of labour and employment’s “mandate in the management of employment relationships and the administration of trade unions to ensure harmonious industrial relations system in the nation”.

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Commentary and news headlines have pointed at the government’s attempt to weaken the influence of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) after seven months of failed negotiation over an autonomous payment system and arrears.

CONUA has, however, had about five years of history behind it as a union.

ROOTS FROM OBAFEMI AWOLOWO UNIVERSITY

CONUA’s website states that the union has its origin in Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Osun State. The union was formed by the academic staff at OAU after a meeting in early 2018.

“CONUA was mooted and birthed by about 750 academic staff (lecturers) of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife on 12th February 2018, at a meeting held at the Humanities’ Block I Auditorium of the Obafemi Awolowo University. The formal inauguration of CONUA was held on 6th March 2018 at the same venue with over one hundred and twenty members in attendance, including representatives of the University of Ilorin and Kwara State University, Malete,” CONUA wrote on its website.

“Between 4th and 6th October 2019, the first National Stakeholders’ meeting of CONUA held at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, involving five (5) universities, namely OAU, KWASU, FU Lokoja, AAU, Ekpoma and FUOYE.”

The union boasts a broad range of Nigeria’s academic professionals as members. It also claims to have branches waiting to be inaugurated in over a dozen Nigerian tertiary institutions.

CONUA has named the University of Port-Harcourt, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, University of Benin, Federal University, Lokoja, Federal University, Oye, Kwara State University, Malete, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife as institutions hosting branches.

Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, University of Abuja, Delta State University, Abraka, and Federal University Otuoke are institutions in the process of inaugurating CONUA branches.

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BREAKAWAY ASUU FACTION

The autobiography of CONUA on its website did not mention its relationship with ASUU. CONUA was born out of discontent within ASUU.

Some members of ASUU, OAU Chapter, accused the union’s leadership of corruption. They had formed a faction within OAU after the contentious appointment of a new vice chancellor in 2017.

The dissatisfied faction broke away from ASUU, OAU Chapter, and inaugurated its own executive committee on March 6, 2018, the same day its ASUU counterpart inaugurated new executive members.

CONUA functioned as a separate trade union but remained unrecognised and unregistered by the federal government. The media still referred to CONUA as a faction of ASUU too.

CONFLICT OF INTERESTS WITH ASUU

CONUA set itself up as an alternative to ASUU and often claimed it could handle advocating the welfare of academic staff better.

Niyi Sunmonu, the national coordinator of CONUA, held a press conference in August claiming that ASUU ran a monopoly over unionism in Nigerian tertiary institutions.

According to Sunmonu, ASUU’s consistent strike did more harm than good to the academic system and CONUA would provide an approach better than strike actions.

“We need a paradigm shift from the old order in our universities and CONUA will focus on inculcating the spirit,” Sunmonu said.

“We underscore the fact that what we are asking for is liberalisation. And what that will bring on the table is that before you embark on any industrial action, cross-fertilisation of ideas is needed.

“What we have noted over the years is that ideas are usually muffled and what you see is the perspective of some people.

“So, when we have liberalisation, what we will eventually have is a healthy competition.”

‘GRATEFUL’ TO NGIGE AFTER AWAITING REGISTRATION SINCE 2018

After its registration on Tuesday, Sunmonu noted that CONUA had submitted an application for its registration since 2018.

In 2020, delegates of CONUA met with the ministry of labour and employment over the status of its registration.

After waiting for about five years, Sunmonu said that CONUA was “immensely grateful” to Ngige for the registration.

“The registration of CONUA, as a Trade Union in the Nigerian university system, is monumentally historic. The hurdles we have faced to get here since 2018, when we submitted our application for registration, have been seemingly insurmountable. The registration is therefore the validation of the power of the human will. It asserts the value of courage, initiative, focus, tenacity, patience, forbearance and persistent positive thinking,” Sunmonu wrote in a statement on Tuesday.

“We are immensely grateful to the Honourable Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, and his team of diligent staff for insisting on merit, due process and thoroughness all through the processing of our application for the registration of CONUA. The very strict and dispassionate review of our application brought out the best in the membership of the Union.”

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‘THEY DON’T HAVE ANY MEMBERS!’

Emmanuel Osodeke, the president of ASUU, has ridiculed CONUA in response to its registration.

Osodeke was quoted as saying CONUA had no members.

“Let them go and look for members; they don’t have any members,” he said.

“What Ngige is doing is that they are just fighting a hopeless battle. We were negotiating, you went to tell lies to the president, it didn’t work, now, you want to register other unions. Do they have any effect?”

Osodeke’s criticism suggests that Ngige is making an attempt to bypass ongoing negotiations with ASUU in order to force an end to the strike action.

Ngige has not denied accusations that he has grown uninterested in negotiating with ASUU either.

He has told journalists that “a lot of university teachers in the public universities had indicated their willingness to get back to work while negotiations continue”.

Moving forward, CONUA intends to expand as a registered trade union which will contend with ASUU and reach compromises with the federal government.