A professor at Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, and former presidential candidate, Prof. Funmilayo Adesanya-Davies, has urged the Congress of University Academics (CONUA) and other breakaway groups in Nigeria’s university system to either remain silent or stand with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in its ongoing legitimate strike. She said the industrial action is a collective fight to protect the rights and welfare of Nigerian lecturers and safeguard the integrity of public universities that include every academic body.
Adesanya-Davies, reacting to media reports such as “ASUU Strike: CONUA Dissociates Self, Says Action Baseless” (Vanguard, May 4, 2024) and “CONUA Distances Union from ASUU Strike, Directs Members to Classrooms” (Business Day, Oct. 13, 2025), emphasized that ASUU’s strike is not an act of rebellion but a patriotic struggle for the preservation of the Nigerian education system.
“ASUU is striking not for selfish reasons, but for the collective good of every academic, including those in CONUA,” Adesanya-Davies stated. “It is unwise for any academic body to publicly condemn or undermine a struggle aimed at securing better funding, improved welfare, and enhanced learning conditions across our universities.”
She added that while CONUA may choose not to participate in the industrial action, it owes its silence to the moral responsibility of solidarity. “When some are fighting for justice and fairness, others should not speak against them; they should rather stay silent, pray, and hope for success, because the victory will benefit all—even those who choose to stay aside,” she said.
The Professor of Applied Linguistics and Communication, who is also a renowned educationist, urged the Federal Government to address the lingering issues that have led to repeated ASUU strikes instead of exploiting divisions among academics. She described ASUU as “the conscience of Nigerian tertiary education,” stressing that the union’s resilience has sustained the survival of public universities for decades.
“ASUU’s persistence has kept Nigeria’s universities from total collapse. Rather than ridicule them, we must appreciate their courage and consistency in the face of neglect,” she noted.
Adesanya-Davies further appealed to lecturers across all unions — ASUU, CONUA, NAAT, and SSANU, to pursue unity of purpose in their fight for a better educational system, insisting that “a divided house cannot stand.”
To CONUA, rather than opposing its own mother-body, ASUU, the oldest and apex academic union in Nigeria, Adesanya-Davies advised cooperation and mutual respect.
She concluded, “Let CONUA and others either join or keep quiet in times like this. When one arm of the academic family is fighting for all, the least others can do is respect the cause. Education is our collective heritage, and we must defend it together. Great ASUU! GREAT!”
Signed:
Prof. Mercy Adesanya
Department of English and Communication Arts
ENGLISH HOUSE, Faculty of Humanities
Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Port Harcourt, Rivers State
&
Office of Prof. Funmilayo Adesanya-Davies
Former Presidential Candidate, Nigeria.
