As the controversy between the federal government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) nears its eighth month, the government has moved to replace the union with its breakaway faction.
Daily Trust reports that Congress of Nigerian University Academics (CONUA), a breakaway faction of ASUU, has been officially registered as a trade union in a move to reopen academic activities in public universities.
According to the report, a source at the Ministry of Labour and Employment had revealed on Tuesday, that the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, will present a Certificate of Registration to the new union before the end of the day.
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It was also reported that Ngige also issued certificates of recognition to National Association of Medical and Dental Academics (NAMDA).
Nigerian public universities have been on strike for seven months now. The striking academic workers under ASUU are demanding better welfare packages and funding among others for the universities.
The source said that the move by the government to recognize CONUA is part of processes to deregister ASUU as the newly registered body would represent Nigerian academics in discussions with the Buhari regime as a full-fledged labor union.
”The Minister, on behalf of the federal government will today present Certificate of Registration to the Congress of Nigerian University Academics (CONUA). With that, ASUU may cease to exist again in our universities,” the source said.
Repeatedly, ASUU and the federal government have failed to settle their differences. The bone of contention has been funding and the use of the union’s University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) instead of the government’s mandated Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) for salary payment.
In an attempt to reopen the schools, the federal government had previously deployed a no-work no-pay policy but it was defied by the ASUU. In September, the government threatened to deregister ASUU as a trade union over its alleged failure to submit its audited reports as required by law in the past five years. The Registrar of Trade Unions was said to have written a query to the ASUU, asking why its certificate of registration should not be withdrawn for breaking the law.
In a further attempt to force the striking workers back to work, the government last month filed a lawsuit against ASUU at the National Industrial Court and won. The court, in an interlocutory ruling ordered the union to discontinue the ongoing strike until the suit is determined, citing education as a matter of national interest.
But ASUU appealed the judgment, praying for the stay of execution of the trial court’s ruling pending the hearing and determination of the interlocutory Appeal.
Government’s move to create a new academic union in the stead of ASUU appears like its final resort to solve the lingering crisis. The government has repeatedly said that it does not have the money to meet the N1.2 trillion that ASUU is demanding, and it’s also not willing to change its stance on the mandated use of IPPIS.
However, there is concern that this move will further complicate the matter as ASUU would likely seek a redress in court. Also, it will severely deplete the quality of education and the academic workforce of Nigerian public universities that is already below par.