The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of Ilorin branch, has strongly criticized the federal government for the unjustifiable delay in paying the outstanding balance of the three and a half months of withheld salaries owed to its members across the nation’s universities.
In a press conference held at the main office of the union at the University of Ilorin, the branch chairman, Dr. Alex Akanmu, declared that the “unjustifiable delay in payment of our due remuneration only mirrors attempt to frustrate the commitment and dedication of the academic staff who have continued to fulfill their responsibilities to students and the broader academic community.”
Akanmu stated that the union is “convinced of this legitimate demand for the payment of our withheld salaries and condemn this slave-master attitude of the government.” He noted that it has been 20 months and a few days since the union’s members resumed from the 2022 industrial action, yet there has been no positive development from the government on their demands, including the payment of outstanding Earned Academic Allowance (EAA).
The ASUU chairman also berated the federal government’s appointments of aged Nigerians as members of tertiary institutions’ governing councils, saying it is unacceptable that “octogenarians would drive the development agenda of the 24th century.”
“Go and see the compositions of the people appointed across the governing council of our tertiary institutions; you are looking at people that are old. As academics, our concern is this: we are looking at octogenarians to drive 24th-century development agenda; can they do it? No! That’s the barbaric and unacceptable level to which this government has taken the country,” Akanmu said.
The union leader expressed disappointment over the “harrowing experience Nigerians are going through at the hands of the current administration,” stating that when the government came into power, “hopes were so high because of the roles played by some elements who we assumed they were democratic. But as soon as they assumed power, they displayed in full anti-labour traits in them.”
Akanmu also faulted the irregularities in the federal government’s appointments of university governing council members, saying, “As a law-abiding government, you have to follow the dictates of the law. You disbanded a governing council whimsically only for you to summon another one, and after that, you also composed another one.”
The ASUU chairman warned that the union will resist any attempt by the government to remove whatever subsidy that has been existing on the country’s commodities, describing it as “going for our jugular.”
The union’s strong stance on the delayed payment of withheld salaries and the composition of university governing councils underscores the ongoing tensions between the government and the academic community. As the impasse continues, the impact on the education sector and the students remains a significant concern.
