Medical lecturers reject LAUTECH’s CONMESS plan, fault management over students’ protests

The Nigerian Association of Medical and Dental Academics at the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology branch, on Saturday, faulted the university management’s recent statements on the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure and rejected the proposed implementation deferred to July 2026, nearly 19 months after negotiations began.

The association also said the recent protests by medical students at LAUTECH are not due to NAMDA’s militancy, but are a direct consequence of management’s failure to implement CONMESS and fulfil earlier promises.

The medical and dental lecturers have been on an indefinite strike since August 1, 2025, in protest against the university management’s failure to implement CONMESS, despite repeated assurances.

On November 7, 2025, LAUTECH management, in a statement on X and on its website, signed by its Registrar and Secretary to the Council, Mrs Olayinka Balogun, announced a formal commitment to commence CONMESS implementation from the November 2025 salary cycle, with full implementation by July 2026.

The statement, titled “Re: Implementation of CONMESS and ongoing student protest at LAUTECH,” stated that the university would consider the payment of arrears thereafter.

“The management of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, wishes to address the public regarding recent developments surrounding the implementation of the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure and the resulting protest by medical students of the institution.

“During a recent engagement with the leadership of the Nigerian Association of Medical and Dental Academics (NAMDA), LAUTECH Branch, the University, made a formal commitment to commence the implementation of CONMESS scheduled to begin with the November 2025 salary cycle. Full implementation will then follow by July 2026. Furthermore, the university pledged to consider the payment of arrears thereafter

This offer, which was made in good faith, with careful consideration of the University’s financial sustainability and long-term institutional stability,  is a reflection of Management’s genuine commitment to improving the welfare of its Medical and Dental academic staff while safeguarding the interests of the entire University community. Regrettably, the Association declined the offer,” it said.

The LAUTECH management added that the decision triggered a protest by the university’s medical students.

It also urged staff, students, parents, and the public to remain calm, while calling on NAMDA to reconsider its stance in the interest of students and the future of medical education at the university.

However, the NAMDA-LAUTECH branch, in a rejoinder titled “Re: Management press statement on CONMESS implementation and student protest at LAUTECH, Ogbomosho” and signed by Acting Chairman Prof. Michael Olamoyegun and Acting Secretary Dr Ayobami Alabi, dismissed the management’s statement.

The association argued that, rather than resolving the issues, the statement amounts to a deliberate act of public deception, misdirection, and intimidation.

The medical and dental lecturers further stated that their engagement with the school management began over a year ago, by which time all other medical schools in Nigeria had already implemented CONMESS for their lecturers, with some institutions having done so for five to six years.

“In January 2025, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. R. O. Rom Kalilu, personally assured NAMDA that LAUTECH would implement CONMESS without delay. In deference to his honour, NAMDA suspended its industrial action after only one week, even when all other medical lecturers in medical schools in the South-West continued their strike for months. We acted in good faith and out of respect for the office he occupies.

Eleven months later, nothing has changed. The promise remains unfulfilled. No Council approval. No payroll adjustment. No arrears. Nothing. Our members continue to be paid on the old salary scale against equity, fairness, and national practice. The so-called ‘Letter of Commitment’ and the accompanying press release are procedurally hollow, non-binding, and deceitfully packaged to mislead the public.

“Phrases such as ‘formal commitment to commence,’ ‘scheduled to begin,’ ‘pledged to consider payment of arrears,’ and ‘offer made in good faith’ are purely conditional, legally empty, and carry no administrative force under the Trade Disputes Act or the Labour Act Cap L1 LFN 2004.

“The promise to ‘commence partial implementation from November 2025’ and ‘fully implement by July 2026’ is an attempt to push medical lecturers into another nine-month gestation period of suffering, cheating and agony—an insult to professional dignity and an act of administrative wickedness.

The clause to ‘consider payment of arrears thereafter’ is not a commitment; it is a deliberate evasion of responsibility. No one ‘considers’ paying what is legally due; one pays,” the statement read.

The association explained that at a meeting on November 6, 2025, the Vice-Chancellor and management gave the impression that they were ready to resolve the dispute and requested an adjournment, which it agreed to in good faith.

“In the spirit of dialogue and institutional respect, NAMDA agreed to adjourn, only for management to turn around the next day and run to the press, releasing a misleading statement aimed at cheap public blackmail.

“Is that how to reconvene in an unresolved dispute? This betrayal of trust is unfortunate and unbecoming of a university’s leadership. Through this action, we have lost complete trust in the capacity of management to genuinely resolve this impasse.

Let it be stated clearly and unequivocally: medical lecturers are not cowards. We will neither be intimidated by cheap propaganda nor silenced by institutional deceit. We stand for truth, justice, and the defence of medical training in LAUTECH,” the association added.

NAMDA stressed that all other federal and state medical schools, including the University of Ibadan, the University of Ilorin, the University of Benin, the Obafemi Awolowo University, the Ahmadu Bello University, the Bayero University, Kano, the University of Nigeria Nsukka, the University of Port Harcourt, the University of Maiduguri, the University of Lagos, and the Ekiti State University, already pay their medical academics using CONMESS.

“The Oyo State Government has already implemented CONMESS with consequential adjustment of N80,000 minimum wage since January 2025.

“To continue paying LAUTECH medical lecturers on the old scale is not just discriminatory; it is illegal and morally indefensible. It violates Sections 17(3a & e) and 42(1) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended)—on equality and non-discrimination.

“The Labour Act Cap L1 LFN 2004 and Trade Union Act Cap T14 LFN 2004, which protect against unequal treatment; and the MDCN Act Cap M8 LFN 2004, which recognises medically qualified academics as essential to medical training and entitles them to parity with practising clinicians.

“Medical lecturers at LAUTECH are not holders of lesser qualifications and not inferior professionals. We teach, mentor, examine, research, and provide clinical services that sustain the accreditation of the MBBS programme. Asking to be placed on the same salary structure as our counterparts elsewhere is not a favour—it is a lawful right and overdue correction of injustice.

“By portraying NAMDA as the cause of the students’ protest, Management seeks to divert attention from its own failure. The truth is plain: students are protesting because management has failed to honour lawful obligations to their teachers; they are protesting because the management has failed them.

NAMDA has repeatedly warned that continued discrimination against both medical lecturers and students and broken promises would disrupt medical training. The protest is a symptom of misgovernance and not union militancy. The so-called offer in the ‘Letter of Commitment’ and press statement is non-committal, delayed, and unacceptable. We reject any implementation deferred to July 2026, 19 months after opening negotiation. Justice delayed is justice denied,” it stated.

NAMDA demands the immediate implementation of CONMESS using the Oyo State template currently in effect, with all arrears calculated from January 2025, the date of the Vice-Chancellor’s original promise.

“We call on the Governing Council and the Oyo State Government to intervene urgently to prevent further damage to the integrity of medical education in LAUTECH. The continued exploitation of medical academics who have laboured tirelessly to keep the system running against all odds is demoralising, inhuman, and unacceptable.

“Our members have shown restraint, patience, and professionalism; the least they deserve is fairness, not betrayal,” it emphasised.

Meanwhile, NAMDA reaffirmed its commitment to students, teaching, and professional duties, warning that industrial action will continue until full CONMESS implementation is signed and enforced.