Gabriel Dike
History was made recently at Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, when aggrieved lecturers who pulled out of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) kept to their threat by forming a union and even inaugurated the new executives.
The OAU lecturers became the first local branch to pull out of a national body in the tertiary institution in protest against what they termed high-handedness and arbitrary/unilateral decisions by some national ASUU officers just as observers believed that their action would open the floodgate for others to emulate their action.
The decision to pull out of ASUU by OAU branch was reached at a congress held on February 12, 2018, which also rejected the resolutions of ASUU NEC meeting on the face-off between it and the parent body over internal crisis.
Investigations by The Education Report revealed that at the start of the face-off with ASUU national, over 732 OAU academic staff out of 1,371 in 2017 wrote the Vice Chancellor to stop payment of their check-off dues to the national body in protest against the way it was handling the internal crisis.
Reasons for the pull out include the unilateral removal of the elected treasurer by ASUU national president; alleged transfer of N11 million from OAU branch account to ASUU national account; the decision of ASUU NEC to accept the suspended and contentious result of OAU VC selection exercise; rejection of the caretaker committee to run the affairs of the union after the presiding officers abandoned the congress midstream on Thursday, October 20, 2016, and their expulsion and suspension.
The aggrieved lecturers formed the Congress of University Academic (CONUA) and election was held into nine offices. The new officers elected were chairman, Dr. Niyi Sunmonu, Faculty of Science; Vice Chairman, Dr. Fayomi Awodele, Faculty of Administration; Secretary, Dr. Henri Oripeloye, Faculty of Arts; Asst Secretary, Dr. H. A. Adefeso, Faculty of Administration; Treasurer, Dr. M. O. Awoyemi, Faculty of Science; Financial Secertary, Dr. Omosola Arawomo, Faculty of Social Sciences; Welfare Officer, Dr. A. A. Shobola, Faculty of Education; Internal Auditor, Dr. B. O. Odu, Faculty of Agriculture, and Investment Officer, Dr. O. F. Adebowale, Faculty of Education.
The inauguration/swearing-in ceremony attracted many academic staff including some professors and it was also attended by chairmen, Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of Ilorin branch, Dr. U. R. Raheem and his counterpart from Kwara State University, Dr. Issa Abdulraheem.
In his acceptance speech, CONUA chhairman, Dr. Niyi Sunmonu, acknowledged the uncommon confidence reposed on the nine-member premier executive committee of the newly-formed union and assured them that they will hold the trust as sacred.
He implored members of CONUA to consolidate and renew their support to the executive committee so that it can re-energise to work and fulfil the noble purpose of the congress.
Sunmonu recalled that CONUA was formed at the congress of February 12 in consonance with the fundamental principles of intellectualism with the same principles, which include the unwavering commitment to problem-solving, critical enquiry, circumspection, courage, integrity, humility and respect for self and others.
“Since we fervently believe that critical times call for critical steps, and cognisant of the absence of an alternative platform to the unmitigatingly repressive and suffocating university academic unionism in the country, we took the historic, well-meaning decision of charting a new course by establishing CONUA to offer the university system the enhanced benefits of competition and choice,” he explained.
According to him, efforts towards the fulfilment of the purpose of CONUA would be based on four major planks, which include the promotion and protection of the welfare of members; the advancement of intellectual growth; the provision and propagation of pragmatic intellectual perspectives on social issues and the enhancement of the public respectability of the academic.
ASUU UNILORIN branch chairman, Dr. Raheem, described the inauguration of CONUA and swearing-in of the elected officers as an epoch-making event, adding that it would go down in the history of unionism in tertiary institutions.
Raheem recalled that when the UNILORIN branch in 2001 faced similar crisis, it was about fair hearing, stressing that “ASUU is being run by cabals. We have membership of over 1,600 and we refuse to be ruled by minority. We have endured all manner of sanctions.’’
He predicted that there would be exodus of more branches out of the national body and revealed that the inauguration and swearing-in of the newly elected had vindicated ASUU UNILORIN branch.
In his contributions, ASUU KWASU branch chairman, Dr. Abdulraheem, commended OAU lecturers for the initiative, adding “we stand for truth and justice. We are looking for opportunity that our interest will be protected.’’