Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has demanded an upward review of lecturers’ salaries or it would indefinitely shut down all public universities in Nigeria.
Members of ASUU, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike (MOUAU) chapter, on Tuesday embarked on a peaceful rally to protest the poor salary structure of lecturers.
Accusing the Government of nonchalance towards the plight of lecturers, ASUU demanded an improved welfare package for its members, complaining that politicians and other public servants who were their students now earn far more than them.
They described the poor remuneration of lecturers at a time when their products were earning jumbo salaries as a big error and vowed to down tools if their demands were not met.
The protesters, who chanted solidarity songs and displayed placards with various inscriptions, challenged the Government to justify its proposal to increase the pay package of political office holders while stagnating the salaries of lecturers for 15 years.
They wondered why the Government had refused to implement the 2009 agreement with ASUU 15 years after the deal, adding that it had also failed to implement the recommendations of various committees it set up to review the 2009 agreement.
Speaking during the protest, Chairman of ASUU, MOUAU chapter, Professor Chike Ugwuene, said the current economic realities had made the 2009 renegotiated agreement—which recommended less than N500,000.00 as take-home for a Professor at bar—a mockery, arguing that the recommendation is far less than the African average of N1.5 million.
ASUU also demanded the release of the N150 billion revalidation fund to universities as captured in the 2025 budget.
Other grievances of ASUU, according to Professor Ugwuene, include non-payment of three and a half months’ arrears of lecturers during the 2022 strike, and the proliferation of public and private universities while the existing ones are not adequately funded.
ASUU also rejected the Tertiary Institution Staff Support Fund, dismissing it as a scam.
The union argued that it made no sense for the Government to be offering loans to its members when the same Government owed them.
Speaking during the rally, former ASUU Coordinator, Owerri Zone, Professor Uzochukwu Onyebinama, recounted the ordeals of lecturers in the face of worsening economic hardship, lamenting that their members are finding it increasingly difficult to cope.
He said the Nigerian Government had made the lecturing job unattractive and an object of caricature.
The ex-ASUU boss queried the rationale behind the decision of Government to pay N500,000 to a Professor at bar, the same figure, he said, “is the entry point” salary of medical personnel.
Dr. Celestina Ogazie, a Reverend Sister, could not hold back her emotions as she went on her knees begging the Government to heed the pleas of lecturers and end their miseries.
Some of the inscriptions on the placards read: “A professor’s salary is less than N500,000;” “The light in the tunnel is off, Government pay us;” among others.
The protest ended with a prayer session conducted by Professor Marble Onwuka, who prayed God to prevail on the Government to address the grievances of ASUU.
