Trade Unionism on Academic Performance and Development of Nigerian Universities: A Comparative Study

Abstract

Labour disputes have become regular occurrences in Nigeria and the right to trade unionism has been constantly abused. Such unionism abuses and disputes often results in low productivity, which in turn affects the demand and supply chain of the economy. The laws in the country are always not abided by, so rather than bargaining, unions embark on strike as first resort, thereby constantly disrupting industrial harmony and academic activities in Nigerian Universities. The objective of this study is to make a comparative assessment of both Nigerian Private and Governments owned Universities and determine whether there is any relationship between non trade unionism and industrial peace, academic performance and productivity in these institutions. The study is a descriptive research designed in line with empiricism case study, and secondary data were mainly applied and were analysed by content analysis. The findings of the study revealed that There is a significant relationship between non trade unionism and industrial peace, academic performances, productivity and development of Nigerian Private Universities unlike the Government owned Universities; and that unionism in Nigerian private universities don’t disrupt students academic activities, which enhances student’s performance. The study draws its conclusion on the fact that regulated or Non trade unionism will always result to industrial peace which is necessary for high academic performance and productivity in Nigerian Universities, and therefore recommends that even though the right of association is a fundamental one, private universities in Nigeria should continue to recognize staff associations but such associations should be regulated and should not be allowed to join the national unions to avoid incessant strike actions; also Labour management dispute committees should be established in all Nigerian universities to handle all union matters internally to further increase productivity.