Alleviate hardship, CONUA urges Tinubu

The Congress of University Academics has urged President Bola Tinubu to expedite action on policies to alleviate the hardships caused by the removal of the oil subsidy and the floating of the naira.

In a communique released after the CONUA National Executive Committee meeting held at the University of Benin from July 12 to 14, the association’s National President, Niyi Sunmonu, urged the President to announce a commensurate minimum wage to cushion the effects of the policies.

The CONUA president also emphasized the importance of addressing the welfare of its members, criticising the withholding of three and a half months’ salary due to a strike action undertaken by a sister association.

He said, “The NEC reviewed the state of the nation and noted the excruciating pains Nigerians have been going through as a result of the removal of fuel subsidy since May 29 2023 and the subsequent policy of floating the naira.

“The union further notes that President Bola Tinubu has assured the nation that a series of measures are being put in place to alleviate the suffering of the people.

“We urge the President to expedite action on those measures, particularly the announcement of a commensurate minimum wage and other measures that will cushion the effect of this untold hardship being currently experienced by the citizens.

“The continued withholding of the three and a half months salary of members of CONUA due to the strike action embarked upon by a sister academic staff union in the Universities is rather unfair. CONUA, as a union, has consistently maintained that it never declared and was not part of the strike action.”

He added that, “What the government has done was to lump together those who embarked on strike with those who did not! This is unjust and is tantamount to punishing the innocent along with the guilty. Through its unwarranted punishment of CONUA members, the government is inadvertently promoting the use of strikes as means of pursuing workers’ demands.

“CONUA-NEC therefore notes with apprehension that failure to process and pay these outstanding salaries could throw the universities into serious crises and jeopardize the peace currently being enjoyed.”

The CONUA president also called on the government to address promotion arrears spanning seven years for some academic staff.

He noted that arrears of Earned Academic Allowance for 10 sessions were owed, with payments made only for 2013, 2017, 2019, and 2022.

He further stated, “It was discovered that when the payment of the four months (March, April, May, and June 2022) salaries out of the seven and a half months of pay withheld by the government as a result of the strike action embarked upon by the other union was paid, through the Presidential prerogative, the third-party deductions were not released and up till now they have not. Information on its whereabouts and when it would be released was not provided by the Federal Government.

“The NEC is demanding, unequivocally, that the agencies of government involved be directed immediately to release these third-party remittances, without further delay.

“The 2014 Pension Act was intended to stop the humiliation and misery of pensioners who characteristically had problems with getting their pension entitlements years after retirement.

“Retirees under the 2014 act therefore looked forward to timeous payment of their entitlements upon the conclusion of necessary documentation. The FG has failed to pay pension entitlements for over one year after retirement.”

Sunmonu also called on the Minister of Education to facilitate the inclusion of CONUA in all TETFUND programs and committee compositions involving academic unions, describing the present situation as discriminatory.

The union also drew the attention of the Ministers of Education as well as Labour and Employment to the remuneration of academics, which has remained stagnant since 2009 despite the steady rise in the cost of living.

While criticising the recent hike in electricity tariffs, CONUA argued that universities should be granted special status regarding these tariffs because they are not income-generating institutions. In the short term, and in the long term, the Federal Government should work with relevant university departments to generate electricity.

CONUA also condemned the Federal Government’s proposal to hand over universities to investors, noting that the move would cripple the universities.