Rauf Oyewole, Bauchi
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has protested withheld three and half months salaries, promotion arrears, earned academic allowances among other demands.
Members of the Union who demonstrated from the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) Bauchi Zone, Yelwa Campus to the gate were seen with placards, demanding for the conclusion of the 15 years 2009 renegotiation which they said is being delayed.
The Union also lamented that the rejected Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) is still be used for the members’ salaries. The Deputy Chairman of the Union in ATBU, Comrade Muhammad Muhammad, while addressing the press on Tuesday morning said that the union and the government have been in fruitless negotiation since 2009 and have become endless.
Muhammad urged the government to call for dialogue to conclude the renegotiation. “We have our earned allowances approved by the previous government which was budgeted and as we speak nothing is being done about it. We also have our three and a half months salary arrears that we worked for. The same government has refused to pay our promotion allowance.”
The Union also reinstated its opposition to unfunded public universities and urged the government to provide adequate funds for the university system.
Also, Muhammad called for the dissolution of the newly constituted university councils saying that the former councils were illegally dissolved. He demanded that any council members whose tenure were yet to expire should be allowed in office.
The National Internal Auditor of the Union, Prof Adamu Muhammad Babayo, chided the government for entering into a public-private-partnership to build hostels in 12 universities with N1bn while the investors contributed N3bn.
“This is an aberration. Imagine that the students will have to pay N250,000 per student. If you have four students in a room that is N1million per room annually. This is the government that is paying N30,000 minimum wage.”
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