From Uchenna Inya, Abakaliki
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Ebonyi State University (EBSU) chapter, on Tuesday described the proposed N10 million loan scheme for each lecturer by the federal government as a mockery of the highest order.
The union said the federal government suddenly came up with the Tertiary Institution Staff Support Fund (TISSF) for its members to distract them from being focused on agitating for commensurate welfare packages for the members.
ASUU EBSU stated this in Abakaliki, the state capital, during a protest to demand the renegotiation and implementation of the 2009 agreement between ASUU and the federal government.
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Addressing journalists after the protest, Chairperson of the union, Comrade Igwe Joseph, wondered how a government that said it has no money to address the challenges in the tertiary education sector and improve the condition of service of the teachers suddenly came up with a N10 million loan scheme for the lecturers.
He noted that part of the ASUU/federal government agreement in 2009 provided that there should be a regular review of salaries every three years and lamented that nothing has been done since then on the salaries of lecturers.
He argued that the agreement was supposed to have been renegotiated in 2012, 2015, 2018, 2021, and 2024, respectively.
The union regretted that the federal government has ignored their plight, not minding the economic situation in the country, and that they are being owed over three months’ salary.
The union therefore called for the “endorsement of renegotiation of the 2009 ASUU-FGN draft agreement.
“Domestication and implementation of the agreement by respective visitors of state-owned universities.
“Immediate gazetting of EBSU staff for pension and gratuity.
“Revitalisation of universities, release of outstanding salary arrears owed to members.
“Payment of promotion arrears, implementation and mainstreaming of EAA in our salaries, removal of the threats to university autonomy and academic freedom.
“An end to the victimisation of our members in Kogi State University (now Prince Abubakar Audu University), Lagos State University, and Federal University of Technology, Owerri.”
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