Femi Falana, an activist-lawyer, explains why the Nigerian Association of Medical and Dental Academics (NAMDA) and Congress of Nigerian University Academics (CONUA), two newly formed academic unions, are illegal.
In an interview with the Arise TV program “Newsday” yesterday, Femi Falana provided a legal viewpoint on the dispute between the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the Federal Government.
The well-known attorney examined the results of floating the new academic unions.
“Under the current Labour Law regime in Nigeria, you cannot have two unions or three unions in the same sector.
“In other words, within the academia in Nigeria, there can only be one registered trade union, that is, ASUU, registered pursuant to the Trade Union Act, as amended.
“We are going to have a mushrooming of trade unions, which threatens industrial peace in the country. We cannot have two unions in the university; neither can we have two unions in other unions in the country. Politically, it won’t work,” he said.
Falana characterized the government’s registration of the new unions as an urgent attempt to end the strike and said it was illegal.
He said: “Government has tried various measures, but the latest one is perhaps going to embarrass the government because it is an illegal exercise and won’t work. ASUU is today one of the most organised and united trade unions in Africa.”
