…Says union being run like a cult
Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
The disbursement format for the earned allowances paid to university workers by the Federal Government appears to have triggered ripples at the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike (MOUAU), following the resignation of Dr. Philips Nto from the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
Dr. Nto resigned his membership of the union, citing a lack of transparency and inclusiveness in its administration.
Nto, who is the Director of the Agribusiness Incubation Centre at MOUAU, lamented that the union had “been hijacked by self-centred individuals who now run it like a cult group.”
He said that instead of the union fighting for the welfare of its members, “a cabal now uses it to even truncate the career progression of some members who are regarded as outsiders.”
Dr. Nto, a former Commissioner for Finance and Economic Planning in Abia State, cited “a personal case where the local chapter of ASUU wrote a petition against his promotion to the rank of professor,” describing it as reflective of the internal contradictions in the union.
In the resignation letter addressed to the Chairman of the MOUAU chapter of ASUU, Dr. Nto regretted that “the union has been reduced to a tool for personal vendetta against perceived enemies of the executive members.”
He also decried the MOUAU chapter’s alleged “apartheid policy in the disbursement of the recently released Earned Academic Allowance.”
The letter partly read: “During the recent disbursement of Earned Academic Allowance, I was short-paid by ASUU MOUAU. Whereas my counterparts received between N800,000 and one million naira, I was discriminated against and paid only N267,992. My protest letter on the matter is yet to be replied to.”
“The lack of transparency in the disbursement of the fund and the impunity with which some members are treated like outcasts have left me with no option but to exit the union,” he wrote.
He noted that since becoming a member of ASUU, he had received no benefits despite his significant financial contributions to the union, including an unrepaid loan of N250,000 he gave in 2013.
He implored the university management to cease the deduction of any ASUU dues from his salary, as he was no longer a member.
Meanwhile, when contacted, the ASUU Chairman at MOUAU, Professor Chike Ugwuene, said he would not respond until the union’s executive meets to take a decision on Dr. Nto’s letter.
