…Say ‘equality delayed is oppression prolonged’
The Nigerian Association of Medical and Dental Academics (NAMDA), Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) chapter, has accused the university management of deception, blackmail, and insincerity over the non-implementation of the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) for medical lecturers, describing the institution’s latest press statement as “a deliberate act of public deception and diversion.”
In a rejoinder released on Saturday and signed by Acting Chairman, Prof. Prof. Michael Adeyemi Olamoyegun, and Acting Secretary, Dr Ayobami Oyetunji Alabi, the association rejected what it called “a defensive public-relations document” issued by the university management following a protest by medical students earlier in the week.
NAMDA said the university’s claim of a “formal commitment” to implement CONMESS was “legally empty” and “administratively hollow,” insisting that there was no new directive, council resolution, or financial authorisation backing the promise.
“What management has released is not an agreement but an exercise in public relations. The so-called commitment to begin partial implementation from November 2025 and full payment by July 2026 is an insult to professional dignity and an act of administrative wickedness,” the statement said.
The association narrated that the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Razaq Olatunde Rom Kalilu , had in January 2025 assured NAMDA that CONMESS would be implemented without delay, prompting the union to suspend its earlier strike in good faith. Eleven months later, however, nothing had changed, the body lamented.
It accused management of betraying trust during a meeting held on November 6, 2025, where, after appeals for dialogue, the university allegedly released a misleading press statement to the public.
“This betrayal of trust is unbecoming of university leadership,” NAMDA said, adding : “We have lost confidence in management’s capacity to resolve this impasse genuinely. We will neither be intimidated by propaganda nor silenced by deceit.”
The association argued that continuing to pay LAUTECH’s medical lecturers under the old salary structure was discriminatory, illegal, and contrary to national practice. It cited provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and the Labour Act, asserting that all medical schools in Nigeria, both federal and state, had implemented CONMESS years ago.
NAMDA listed universities such as the University of Ibadan, University of Ilorin, University of Benin, Obafemi Awolowo University [OAU], Ahmadu Bello University [ABU], Zaria, Bayero University Kano [BUK], University of Nigeria, Nsukka [UNN], University of Lagos [UNILAG], University of Madiguri [UNIMED], and Ekiti State University [EKSU] as examples of institutions that had adopted the medical salary structure.
It further pointed out that the Oyo State Government had implemented CONMESS, alongside the ₦80,000 minimum wage adjustment, since January 2025.
“Medical lecturers at LAUTECH are 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 scale as our counterparts elsewhere is not a favour, it is a lawful right ,” the statement said.
The association dismissed claims by management linking it to the students’ protest, saying the demonstration was a result of prolonged injustice and failed promises.
‘’Students are protesting because management has failed to honour its obligations. Their action is a reaction to mis-governance, not union militancy,” NAMDA said.
The association demanded immediate implementation of CONMESS using the Oyo State template, full payment of arrears from January 2025, and urgent intervention by the university’s Governing Council and the state government to prevent “further damage to the integrity of medical education in LAUTECH.”
It also reiterated its commitment to the ongoing industrial action until a signed, enforceable directive is issued.
He added:“Equality delayed is oppression prolonged. We seek not privilege but parity, not favour but fairness, the wage of our labour and the dignity of our calling. LAUTECH management must choose between equity and deceit, between honour and hypocrisy.”
