Unions and Conflict Management in Nigeria’s Tertiary Institutions

Abstract

The persistent, if not chronic crisis in the Nigerian education sector in general, and in the tertiary institutions in particular, has created the impression that unions are largely responsible for creating, rather than managing or regulating conflicts. Unions and their leaders are perceived as the incorrigible trouble makers, hell-bent on causing mischief and in giving perpetual headaches to the administrators of their respective institutions as well as the government, the funder of these institutions. This negative perception has been nurtured and sustained by the Nigerian State, especially under military rule, and then reinforced by intolerant and insecure administrators who see enmity and confrontation in any voice of dissent or critical appraisal. The most cogent and somewhat recent articulation of this perspective, for example, has been advanced by Mr. Ben Nwabueze, then Secretary for Education who, while addressing a gathering of Vice Chancellors and Pro-Chancellors of Nigerian universities, averred that unionism has done nothing but cause senseless distress in, and destruction of, our tertiary institutions.