The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Kogi State University chapter, has raised alarm that the university is fast losing qualified teaching staff to greener pastures as a result of many factors.
The chairman of the chapter, Dr. Oluwagbemiga Aina who spoke to news men on Sunday in Lokoja, said that the exodus of the lecturers is adversely impacting on the quality of teaching and researching as well as other academic activities in the university.
Dr. Aina said that the lecturers are leaving in droves because of delay in payment of salaries and other issues such as nonpayment of outstanding Earned Academic Allowance from 2009 to 2014.
According to him, no fewer than 50 qualified lecturers had left the University for Greener Pastures, adding: “where there are delays in payment of salaries, the chances of corruption is rife.”
The chairman accused the government of failure to pay N1.1 billion outstanding arrears of earned academic allowances till date,.
“After the initial payment of N125 million, the government reneged on its promised monthly instalmental payment of N25 million.”
He appealed to Governor Yahaya Bello, the Visitor to the university, to intervene and save the university from collapse, adding that he should move mast to resolve all outstanding issues involving workers and the government.
Commenting on the two months old strike embarked upon by lecturers of the institution, Aina vowed that the action would be sustained until all their entitlements are paid.
“In fact, the resolution of congress is that the action will be invoked anytime delay in salary payment goes beyond the seventh day of the succeeding month.”
He debunked claims that members of the union requested for tax exemption, saying that they only requested for waiver and rebate to make up for the huge tax they paid in the past.
The ASUU Chairman commended Governor Yahaya Bello for summoning the courage to sanitize the state civil service.
“No doubt, the state is bedeviled by rot and corruption of varying magnitudes and dimensions. The rot in the civil service appeared to have defied solutions until recently,” he said. [myad]
