The University of Ilorin branch of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has slammed the federal government over delay in payment of the outstanding balance of the three and a half months of withheld salaries of the members of the nation’s universities.
The Unilorin branch chairman of the union, Alex Akanmu, expressed the union’s disappointment with the federal government while addressing a press conference in Ilorin on Tuesday.
He said the union also lambasted the federal government over appointments of aged Nigerians as members of tertiary institutions governing councils.
Akanmu stressed that it is unacceptable that Octogenarians would drive the development agenda of the 21st 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 a 21st-century development agenda; can they do it.? No! That’s the barbaric and unacceptable level to which this government has taken the country,” he said.
The Unilorin ASUU boss also noted that the unjustifiable delay in payment of their due remuneration only mirrors attempts to frustrate the commitment and dedication of the academic staff who have continued to fulfill their responsibilities to students and the broader academic community.
He said they are convinced of the legitimate demand for the payment of their withheld salaries and condemn what he called the slave-master attitude of the government.
Akanmu also said, “It is twenty months and few days of resumption from the 2022 industrial action with no positive development from the government on our demands of payment of outstanding Earned Academic Allowance (EAA) in spite of being captured in the 2023 Budget and or mainstreaming to our salaries with effect from 2022.
“The payment of our EAA till date remains a mirage while the government has acted unconcerned in the face of a stringent economic situation.”
Withheld salaries: ASUU blasts Nigerian govt over delay in payment