‘Women need determination to excel in unionism’

As President of NASU for eight years, how was your experience like? When I assumed the role, I had told myself that given the way I had become president, I had a bigger responsibility of not letting down or disappointing  those who reposed such a degree of confidence on me and backing me to be […]

As President of NASU for eight years, how was your experience like?

When I assumed the role, I had told myself that given the way I had become president, I had a bigger responsibility of not letting down or disappointing  those who reposed such a degree of confidence on me and backing me to be president. I was elected based on trust, confidence and it was a very huge challenge.  It was even more important for me given the situation that all those who gathered to say I should be president were men. Although I had initial challenges of trying to fit myself into the position, to meet initial challenges of self-confidence largely because I was the shy type; not being able to talk in open meetings and all that. With time, I however overcame that and it soon became part of my daily life. What made it a bit easier was also the fact that shortly before I became the president of NASU, I had been elected the Chairperson of the National Women Commission of the NLC and  Vice President of NLC where  I gained very useful experience. This notwithstanding, it was all a different ball game leading a union like NASU. In the Women Commission, it was an all-women affair, so I was literally at home operating there. I am happy  that we didn’t have any crisis of confidence between me and my colleagues in the leadership – both at the political and national secretariat levels of our union. 

In the past eight years, I can`t deny the fact that I had a few scuffles with some people in the union. That is natural if you occupy such a position that demands so much from you and the need to wield some authority so that you are not taken for granted or undermined.

What were your achievements in collective bargaining on behalf of NASU?

I won’t necessarily describe my achievement during my tenure as  personal one. They are our collective achievements. Before my emergence as President of NASU, when we go for collective bargaining, we start from the University Trade Group and whatever we gained from there is automatically adopted at the level of the other trade groups – we have seven  trade groups – so this pattern we adopted was often very effective for us. Shortly after I assumed office, we had a collective bargaining exercise in 2009 and after that government came out with a position that we must negotiate for every trade group. This made the work very hectic for us such that at every point in time, we were engaged. If you are not doing that of the university, you are doing negotiation for the polytechnic or the schools and colleges; in fact it was so demanding running from one negotiation to another. 

The most challenging aspect of it all is that if you win benefits for a trade group and you fail to do so for the other trade group you are in trouble. Essentially we achieved increase in salaries for our members in all the groups but these benefits did not come at the same time given the staggered nature of  our negotiation now. 

In your eight years as president of NASU, what was your most trying period? 

 Was there any time that it was easy? Is it the strikes or being in motion all the time or trying to keep up with ultimatums or coping with the long hours of negotiations? 

I cannot describe them as trying period in the strict sense of the word. All I can say is that I see them rather as challenges that come with the job. I was part of our team that was continually dealing with a lot of struggles and if any of the struggles come close to being described as trying period, then that must be with strikes and negotiations that have to do with the university. The university trade group has members that are resolute and unyielding to the extent that no matter how difficult and prolonged a strike, they are always bent on getting their demand. 

If there is any point in my entire trade union experience that I can describe as a trying time; then that certainly should be the 2011 NLC delegates’ conference and the crisis that followed it. 

How did you relate with other unions which operate in the education sector? 

At the university level, we were working with SSANU and NAAT; the three of us which form the non-teaching staff of the university.

Working as a team has made our negotiation very strong and then our protests have become very strong too. If there is a strike in the university, the three of us go together. 

About one and half years ago we started working with ASUU; we are working together, especially at the Needs Assessment Committee. 

So, we are now collaborating to achieve our common goals of welfare of our members as well as conducive learning and operating environment. 

What is your view on the low participation of women in trade unions, which is becoming  a global trend?

I  was  recently in Japan  where I discovered that the entire executive of JILAF of Japan had no woman representation. 

Women are only attached to projects and even at that level, they are very few. In most societies where patriarchy is the order of the day, you will have this problem of low women participation in not just trade union activities but in participation in public affairs generally.   

You were at a time the pioneer national chairperson of the Women Commission, what was your experience like? 

My first four years as chairperson of the Women Commission was with Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, while the second was during Omar’s first tenure. Before Omar’s period, we had recorded a lot of achievements. I could remember that within my first four years was the time we had so many projects. We had so many gender desk officers in so many industrial unions and  we developed a gender policy. It was the gender policy that was used to mobilise the affiliates of the congress to set up gender desks and also set up women committees within unions. A direct result of the women commission was the growth in the number of women taking up various positions in many affiliates of the congress, a situation that was before then not common. 

What is your advice to  aspiring female  trade unionists?

I think the most important question is how do women get the space to also participate in an environment that is predominantly occupied by men? For me, I have in the course of my union career discovered that patience and focus matter a great deal for women who operate in trade union environment and would like to go far. For those in a hurry to get their desires, I am sorry to say that they may be disappointed, they will not get anything.