Dr ‘Niyi Sunmonu an Associate Professor of Atmospheric Physics, in the Department of Physics & Engineering Physics of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria, is the National President of the Congress of University Academics, CONUA. In this interview, he speaks on a number of issues, including how the congress was registered as an academic staff union in the Nigerian university system. Excerpts.
Can you tell us about the registration of CONUA?
It was a very tortuous task. CONUA started the registration process in May 2018 after more than 700 academics were expelled from ASUU in OAU. This process was completed on 17th January 2023, having been previously given a provisional letter of registration on 4th October 2022. So, the registration process took a period of about five years to materialize. Before and up to the point of registration, the journey was both rough and tough. The first test of our mettle as a union occurred when the application was rejected. The refusal of our application for the registration of CONUA as a Trade Union was communicated to us in a letter dated 23rd January 2019, with the caveat that “you also have the right to appeal the refusal of the application to be registered as a trade union to the Honourable Minister within 30 days of the receipt of this letter in line with section 5(b) of the Trade Union Act CAP.T.14 of 2004”. The leadership immediately identified 23 grounds of appeal and prepared six annexures, and the appeal, dated 28th January 2019 and addressed to the Honourable Minister of Labour and Employment, was promptly filed by our counsel. About a year later, the Ministerial Committee set up immediately the appeal was filed invited the leadership of CONUA to a formal meeting scheduled for 22nd January 2020. The meeting was held in the Conference Room of the Honourable Minister of Labour and Employment. Subsequently, the Honourable Minister of Labour and Employment invited the CONUA leadership to a public meeting held on 19th November 2020, where the justification for the registration of CONUA as an academic Trade Union was further elucidated upon.
The Honourable Minister, in his response, gave the Ministerial Committee on the appeal for the registration of CONUA four weeks to turn in its report for his consideration. Our leadership and followership were literally, forged by fire, through physical, psychological and emotional strain, as weeks turned to years! During the period, we also had to cope with constant ridicule, taunting and propaganda from ASUU
leadership in a bid to suffocate CONUA.
By 26th October 2022, ASUU (claimant) had already instituted a case at the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN), against the registration of CONUA, through Mr. Femi Falana (SAN). Part of the eight reliefs sought included “an order mandating the Federal Government to withdraw the certificate of registration of CONUA”; “an order restraining the FG from recognizing and dealing with CONUA as trade unions in any manner whatsoever and howsoever”; and “an order restraining CONUA from parading itself as a trade union capable of unionizing academic staff in the universities in Nigeria in any manner whatsoever and howsoever”. The intention to asphyxiate CONUA was laid to bare from these reliefs!
But, thankfully, on 25th July 2023, the NICN ruled that all “the reliefs prayed for by the claimant are not grantable. They must fail.” The NICN also expatiated on the paragraph 67, section 25 of the Trade Union Act (TUA). It held that “in talking of ‘all registered trade unions in the employment of an employer’ intuits that there can be more than one trade union in an employment; and for purposes of collective bargaining, these registered trade unions in an employment shall constitute an electoral college to elect members who will represent them in negotiation with the employer. Section 25 accordingly does not intuit trade union monopoly.” It intuits trade union plurality. May I therefore use this opportunity to appeal to Nigerians, particularly members of the fourth estate of the realm, including the elites to seek the truth about these issues. It is then incumbent on us all to uphold the truth after it is discovered.
After the registration, we are still battling with discriminations and exclusions from the programmes of some government agencies that would ordinarily interface with registered academic unions. For example, CONUA is still facing discrimination from TETFUND which excluded it, on 14th May 2024 from the “Reconstitution of TETFUND National Research Fund Screening And Monitoring Committee (NRFS&MC)”. Another instance is that of the exclusion from the NEEDS Assessment Committee, constituted by the immediate past Honourable Minister of Education, Prof Tahir Mamman (SAN) on 28th August 2024. CONUA’s leadership is following up with the current Minister of Education, Dr. Olatunji Alausa, to seek redress on the oversight.
We have had to cope with propaganda from the Comrade Ayuba-Wabba led NLC, even though CONUA did
not approach it for affiliation. Thankfully, CONUA got affiliated with the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) on 15th October 2023, after fulfilling all the requirements. Little by little, we are surmounting the “teething” challenges and we are very optimistic about a very bright future.
Can you tell us about the spread of CONUA since it got registered?
CONUA started in OAU, grew to five universities by October 2019, and then to about 30 Chapters, as we speak. We are in universities, which included but not limited to, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike; University of Benin; Federal University, Lokoja; Federal University, Oye-Ekiti; Kwara State University, Malete; Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma; Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; University of Nigeria, Nsukka; University of Jos; Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Federal University, Wukari, National Mathematical Centre, Abuja, University of Abuja, University of Maiduguri, Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike, Ikwo, etc. In short, CONUA has Chapters across all the six geopolitical zones in the country, and it is still growing.
When did you form CONUA?
For “daring” to raise questions, over 700 OAU academics were expelled/suspended from ASUU on 4th February 2018. As a result, Congress met on 12th February 2018 and presided over by the Caretaker Committee, the ill-advised expulsion or suspension was deliberated upon exhaustively, and the need to provide a refuge for the academics who had been arrogantly driven out of ASUU was a key issue. At the end of the discussions, Congress decided “to constitute itself into a new Union that is totally independent of ASUU, adopt an appropriate name and open a new bank account for the check off dues of its members”, among other key decisions. The Congress adopted the name, Congress of University Academics (CONUA). We were quite conscious of the fact that standing up to ASUU would be a humongous and fearsome undertaking with a difficult-to-predict outcome. All the same, with courage buoyed by our desire to protect our dignity, we forged ahead. On 6th March 2018, the formal inauguration of CONUA was held, with representatives of the University of Ilorin and Kwara State University, Malete, in attendance. In the meantime, academics under the yoke of ASUU in other universities heard about the principled and definitive resistance to the excesses of ASUU in OAU and the resultant formation of CONUA.
From 4th to 6th October 2019, the first National Stakeholders Meeting of the Union held at OAU, with the following five branches were represented: Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife; Kwara State University, Malete; Federal University, Lokoja; Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma; and Federal University, Oye-Ekiti.
Was CONUA’s formation and subsequent registration really to split ASUU?
There is no iota of truth in this and I make bold to say that it is a complete fabrication! This notion was propagated in the immediate aftermath of the letter of approval of registration handed over to the union on 4th October 2022. I’ll like to mention about three instances, out of many more, in this regard, to prove that this assertion is false.
The event that led to the formation of CONUA is the story of ripples generated in 2018 by events set in motion in 2016 by inanities engaged by ASUU in 2013.
In 2013, elections were duly conducted into various offices of the Executive Committee of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Branch of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), to which virtually all the academic members of staff belonged at the time. Regrettably, the National Executive Committee (NEC) of ASUU annulled the already declared results of the duly elected contestants, because the leadership of the union did not like those who emerged victorious. Out of the electoral destruction of trust and widespread demoralization wreaked by the despicable unconstitutional annulment, an ASUU-NEC-favored Dr. Caleb Aborisade-led Executive Committee emerged to run the affairs of a by-then-divided ASUU-OAU. The Hassan Sunmonu-led committee of trustees, that was eventually set up to look at the crises wrote, on page 8 of its report, that “the Trustees committee could not uncover any justification for the wholesale annulment of the entire election; and therefore, considers NEC’s action was wrong.”
The second point is the unethical collaboration of the ASUU-OAU executive committee in the selection process of a vice chancellor at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, in 2016. Complaints against the Executive included the mischievous alteration of Congress resolution and the misrepresentation of Congress position to the press on the serious matter of the appointment of the 11th substantive VC of the University. In one specific instance, in spite of the obvious flaws in the process, the Chairperson of the Branch at the time, Dr. Caleb Aborisade, sent to the press a statement claiming that the VC selection “followed due process” and “was free, fair and transparent”; and he failed to comply with the Congress directive to him to withdraw the misleading statement.
The third and the last point, for this engagement, is that of walking out on a duly called Congress on 20th October 2016 by the Dr. Caleb Aborisade-led executive. After discussing the substantive matter, Congress demanded to know how the report of the Professor Osodeke Visitation Committee got to the press, and whether that report reflected the views of ASUU-NEC. Rather than address the matter, the presiding officers impetuously walked out on Congress. The aggregate contempt of this new debasement of Congress by the de facto Executive of ASUU-OAU and the earlier indignity suffered in the ASUU-NEC’s annulment of the victory of duly-and-popularly elected candidates in the Branch got members thinking about how to shake off the leech. Members reasoned that heedlessly abandoning the Congress midstream by the Executive
amounted to disdain for Congress and that repulsive action was taken as the abdication, by the Executive, of their responsibility to continue to provide leadership to the Branch of the union. As a consequence, Congress resolved that rather than disperse in a rudderless and disoriented manner, the meeting should continue and end properly. Congress further resolved that since there was no constitutional provision to deal with the abdication of leadership by the Executive in the middle of a meeting, a three-person Caretaker Committee should, as dictated by the exigency of the moment, be nominated at that instant to steer the affairs of the union in the interim. Congress, thereafter nominated my humble self (Chairperson), Dr. Henri Oripeloye (now a Professor, Secretary) and Dr. Monica Orisadare (now a Professor, Financial Officer) of a Caretaker Committee. This is how I became an “accidental” Chairperson, albeit, of a Caretaker Committee. The trustees committee has this to say on the Caretaker Committee, on page 7 of its report, that “this was the peak of illegality. There is no provision in ASUU constitution for a Caretaker Committee. It is not recognized by NEC.” The dubious antecedents of ASUU-NEC regarding fidelity to its constitution has made it lose any moral authority to sanction members on the account of creation of the Caretaker Committee. ASUU-NEC showed its lawlessness by annulling the victory of members who had been duly nominated and elected for various posts. It engaged in this gross violation of rights because it did not like those who won the elections. In addition, ASUU-NEC also subsequently hypocritically condoned the victory of a candidate who did not meet the eligibility requirement into the office of Financial Secretary. Of course, there are other issues of violation of the mandate with the banks, violations of the constitution with respect to contest in election, etc.
By Sunday, 4th February 2018, at the ASUU-NEC held at Gombe State University, Gombe, expulsion and suspension were pronounced on the “709 members” who “have withdrawn their check-off” in a report by the Professor Suleiman Muhammed-led committee of Ethics, Grievances and Crises/Conflict Management Committee. Even though the financial infractions that led to the stoppage of check off dues were reported to the ASUU’s highest hierarchy, which included violation of mandate with the union’s bankers.
By this pronouncement, ASUU washed off its hands from the protection of interests of those expelled! An example on this point was the case of the Earned Academic Allowance (EAA) released to the universities in late 2021. Its leadership swung into action immediately, and there was nothing on earth they did not do to
late 2021. Its leadership swung into action immediately, and there was nothing on earth they did not do to deny our members their earned allowance. There were all manners of financial infractions as if the EAA was a largesse to be distributed among union leadership! Eventually, reasoning prevailed and our members were paid, along with other colleagues, their dues of the EAA, when the payment was made by the university management sometimes in February/March 2022. There were antecedents to this, albeit in another guise. In March 2020, the leadership of ASUU “barred” some academics, who held different opinions, from participating in sabbatical leave, part-time lectureship, external examinations, external assessments, conferences, workshops, research collaborations/visits etc! Gratefully, the NICN sitting in Lagos declared those “decrees” illegal, unlawful, null and void. Members of staff of the University of Ilorin, had their own “fair share” between 2001 and 2019!
We learnt you were excluded from the 2009 renegotiation committee, why?
Yes, initially this was the case. We are of the firm view that CONUA should not have been excluded from the beginning. This is because when the 2009 agreement was signed, ASUU represented interests of all academics. It naturally follows that the proprietorship of the agreement extends to CONUA (after it was registered as an academic union). In addition, all the issues to be discussed will therefore have bearing on our members. Even though the 2009 agreement was in the past, it is also about the present and the future! What was in the past was ASUU representing all academics. CONUA, representing some academics is what operates in the present, and it extends to the future.
Anyway, CONUA wrote letters of appeal to the Honourable Minister of Education advancing reasons for the oversight to be addressed. We also sought for protection from our Trade Centre, the TUC. Eventually, the Honourable Minister of Education, having considered all the issues surrounding our exclusion, including from legal perspective, has graciously approved the inclusion of CONUA in the renegotiation and has communicated the approval to the Union, TUC and the Renegotiation Committee. CONUA is using this medium to appreciate the Honourable Minister of Education, Dr. Olatunji Alausa for his fairness to all registered university-based trade unions, and we urge him to continue on this path in order to sustain the uninterrupted academic calendar in the universities, one of the key points of the Renewed Hope agenda of the President Tinubu-led Federal Government.
Why is CONUA asking for the payment of the withheld salaries for her members?
CONUA has maintained consistently that it neither declared nor partook in the strike action declared and embarked upon by the members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities. It would then be considered unfair for the Federal Government to lump CONUA members with ASUU on the policy of “no work, no pay.” This is considered unjust, and is tantamount to punishing the innocent along with the guilty. The Federal Government’s action actually goes against the judgment delivered on 25th July, 2023 at the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN), which affirmed CONUA as an independent Union. It should also be noted that withholding the three and a half months salaries of members of CONUA, who neither declared nor participated in any strike action, 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 period of employment”. This provision is consistent with global best practices. CONUA is therefore using this medium to demand for this outstanding three and a half months withheld salary from the FG without further delay.
How will CONUA achieve success on her demands from the FG?
CONUA detests incessant strikes in the nation’s tertiary institutions, having seen unprecedented disruptions in academic calendars in our universities. Between 1999 and 2021, Nigerian public universities had experienced strikes for 1,417 days which translate to over 5 years! The 2022 strike lasted 8 months, and it is the longest! This has caused damage in no small measure to teaching and research. It is better to constructively engage than to “war-war.” I think we can all attest to this. Even in war, peace is ultimately achieved on the negotiation table. The Union will try its best to avoid strikes by engaging proactively in ideologically-unencumbered consultation, dialoguing and lobbying the Minister of Education, and by extension, other relevant and important stakeholders in the education sector and beyond, rather than folding our arms when budgets are being prepared and then going on strike to ask for improved funding. We must evolve ways to finding lasting solutions to these perennial problems. We cannot be doing the same thing the same way for many years and expect different results. Unionism should not be an “opposition party”!
We urge the FG to show more commitment to education, for without it, the nation cannot achieve any remarkable progress, in any aspects of her life. The earlier this is done, the better for Nigeria and all her citizens.
What can you say about the current state of the Nigerian University System?
It is crystal clear to all and sundry that the fortune of the Nigerian University System (NUS) has nosedived. The major culprit can be traced to poor and/or inadequate funding, which started plummeting around 1976 which coincided with reduced budgetary allocation. Prior to the year, excess unspent funds were usually remitted back to the government coffers. Then, there was the unplanned proliferations of universities, even though the growing population of the country requires that more universities are needed, but funding and other important requirements such as personnel, teaching and research facilities, etc. need to be adequately prepared and provided for! Then, there is the pattern of management of Nigerian universities that has remained largely unchanged for more than four decades despite major changes in the environment, which has been amplified by corruption in the system. Then, there is the incessant strike actions, over the years. All these factors and many more have negatively impacted on the NUS, as evidently manifested in the poor global ranking. For example, the premier university of Ibadan was the top-ranked university in Nigeria, placing 1,163rd globally, in 2023; 1083rd in 2024.
Why do you think crises accompany the selection of VCs in the universities?
It is sad that colleagues cannot manage the autonomy granted to the universities with respect to the selection of vice chancellors, due to unbridled ambitions and lack of respect for laid down procedures. Unfortunately, the “emotion” introduced into the process includes issues of ethnic dominance, political interference and corruption. There can be only one vice chancellor at a time, even though there may be many aspirants. Strict adherence, devoid of any sentiment, to the promotion of merit and integrity will avert, to a large extent, acrimony arising from the selection of VC.
Do you think the FG is doing well with the composition of varsity governing councils?
This is a prerogative of the government and this is largely political, in nature. The union will continue to monitor the performance of these Councils. We, however, hope that the Federal Government will not violate the autonomy act again with a wholesale dissolution of the Governing Councils before the end of their tenure, which could give the unintended impression that the government is unappreciative of the invaluable services of the distinguished Nigerians some of whom were literally begged to put their wealth of experience at the service of the nation’s educational system. The Federal Government should also prioritize the nomination of individuals with exceptional credibility, a spotless track record, and unwavering integrity to the Governing Councils.
What do you have to say about the composition of varsity accreditation teams?
In terms of composition, majority of the members of accreditation teams are academics. They are brought on board because of expertise in related areas to the courses to be accredited. So, they are supposed to be qualified individuals, largely. CONUA will however like to put on record that accreditation should not be window-dressed, it should be conducted in the most professional manner with a view to helping the system and not creating contradictions within it.
Has the FG settled your Earned Academic Allowance (EAA)?
No. The FG agreed to pay the Earned Academic Allowance (EAA) for excess work done by academics in Federal Universities since they are battling with shortage of manpower. This EAA payment was supposed to cover academic sessions from 2008/2009 (rain semester) onwards. The Federal Government has released four tranches, 2013, 2017, 2021 and 2022, so far. These releases did not cover up to four sessions completely, not to talk of the entire fourteen and a half sessions, for which the payment is required. The outstanding EAA owed by the FG is therefore for upward of ten sessions!
How can Nigerian varsities overcome the funding problem?
CONUA has always advocated for multipronged approach to funding the universities, as relying on the government alone will always cause heartache and will not bring the much-needed progress we yearn for. The multifaceted approach should include, but not limited to, increased budgetary allocation by the FG,
public-private partnership, contributions by alumni and endowment, international collaborations, efficient management of resources and compliance with budgetary provisions, policy reforms, town & gown engagement, diversification of revenue sources, etc.
The suggested proposals require collaboration between the government, private sector, universities, and the community, with adequate policy framework in order to create a sustainable funding model for Nigerian universities.
