South-West Universities Begin CONMESS Payment to Clinical Lecturers

Medical and dental schools in the Southwest region have commenced payment of the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure to members of the Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria, PUNCH Online has learnt.

This follows the suspension of the indefinite strike initiated by MDCAN members in the region in February over the non-payment of CONMESS. Speaking with our correspondent on Sunday, Dr AbdulKareem Salawu, the Chairman of MDCAN in the Southwest, confirmed the development. “Some of the schools have started paying, while a few are yet to begin. For instance, the University of Lagos, the University of Ibadan, and Obafemi Awolowo University have commenced payment,” he said.

He noted that OAU has started paying the basic components and has pledged to settle the arrears once funds are available. However, two state-owned institutions — Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Oyo State, and Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ogun State – are yet to commence payment.

“Both OOU and LAUTECH have made strong commitments to begin payment soon, and we are making significant progress,” he added. He explained that the decision to suspend the strike was reached after a series of interventions and negotiations with various stakeholders.

“We had an agreement with the school management before resuming. Medical experts intervened, and we engaged with the government, specifically the Ministry of Labour and Employment, as well as the Ministry of Education. These discussions eventually led to a resolution”, he said. He defended the strike action, stating that it was necessary to prevent a mass exodus of medical educators from the country.

“If we had not gone on strike, our teaching staff might have moved to institutions where CONMESS is paid or even gone abroad,” he said.  Regarding the impact of the strike on academic activities, he acknowledged the disruptions but assured that the academic calendar would not be compromised.

“Yes, there were disruptions, but we have structured medical education to recover. Unlike conventional universities, medical training typically requires a minimum of 40 weeks, particularly in preclinical studies, which must be completed within this timeframe. We cannot compromise on medical education. If we had already completed 10 weeks before the strike, we would still need to complete the remaining 30 weeks. It is non-negotiable. The Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria will not accept anything less. We are dealing with human lives, so training must be thorough,” he said.