The Congress of University Academics (CONUA) has charged the Federal Government to focus more on addressing urgent and fundamental concerns affecting university academics, particularly in the face of Nigeria’s soaring inflation and shrinking purchasing power, by ensuring sustainable welfare enhancement for workers.

The congress made the call in a statement yesterday, where it applauded the Federal Government’s recent introduction of the Tertiary Institution Staff Support Fund (TISSF), a N10 million loan initiative aimed at improving the welfare and professional development of staff across Nigeria’s tertiary education sector. `

In a release signed by its National President, Niyi Sunmonu, CONUA insisted that while the scheme is a welcome gesture, it should not replace more fundamental solutions urgently needed by academic and non-academic staff nationwide.

CONUA, which described the scheme as a step in the right direction, urged the Federal Government to ensure that the fund’s implementation is anchored on fairness, transparency, and inclusiveness. The union added that this would require proper representation of all stakeholder unions on the fund’s monitoring and implementation committees.

The union stressed that the availability of the loans should not distract from deeper structural issues affecting university workers, particularly against the backdrop of soaring inflation and diminishing purchasing power.

“What the academic workforce truly needs at this time is sustainable welfare enhancement, not merely access to credit,” CONUA emphasised.

Highlighting a range of unresolved issues, it referenced several outstanding financial obligations, including Earned Academic Allowance (EAA), promotion arrears, and withheld salaries, particularly the three-and-a-half-month salaries owed to its members who neither declared nor joined any industrial action.