A group of lecturers under the aegis of Congress of University Academics, CONUA has called on the federal government to register the union.
The union, which broke away from the Academic Staff Union of the Universities, ASUU said this is the only way to break the current monopoly enjoyed by the foremost union.
It blamed the ongoing strike of ASUU as confrontational, adding that strike should be the last resort when trying to resolve issues in the nation’s ivory towers with the federal government.
Speaking in Abuja on Friday, the National Coordinator of CONUA, Dr Niyi Sunmonu, said the ASUU strike has paralysed the nation’s university system.
Summonu said its own members are not on strike, calling on the federal government to pay them arrears of salary.
Recall that the minister of Education Adamu Adamu had on Thursday said the government will not pay striking university teachers for the period they were on strike.
The CONUA leader said there would be stability in the universities if his union is registered with relevant federal government authorities, adding that freedom of association is enshrined in the country’s constitution.
According to him, “We need a paradigm shift from the old order in our universities and CONUA will focus on inculcating the spirit
” 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 and the perspective of other people not actually reflective of what transpired at the end of the day.
” So when we have liberalisation, what we will eventually have is healthy competition, the interest eventually resulting in the protection of the interest of other stakeholders would be protected,” he said.
