Lawrence Nwimo, Awka
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Owerri Zone, has urged the Federal Government to address the union’s long-standing grievances and stop pushing lecturers in public universities “into sorrow.”
The union made the call while rejecting the Tertiary Institutions Staff Support Fund (TISSF) initiative of the Federal Government, insisting that it was wrong to encourage lecturers to go into further debt.
TISSF is a programme funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and TETFund, designed to support the well-being, career development, and financial stability of staff in tertiary institutions across the country.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday at the ASUU Secretariat, Nnamdi Azikiwe University (NAU), Awka, the Zonal Coordinator, Prof. Dennis Aribodor, said the Owerri Zone stands with the union’s national leadership in rejecting the scheme.
He described TISSF as “a poisoned chalice” that should not be accepted by lecturers, noting that many members were already burdened by debts and should not be encouraged to borrow more.
“What we expect from the government is the payment of all outstanding arrears, including the arrears of the 25–35% wage award, and the signing of the 2009 ASUU-FGN renegotiated agreement. This loan will not improve the lot of our members. Let us not forget that he who goes borrowing goes sorrowing. Government should not be the one pushing our members into sorrow,” he stated.
Aribodor said the briefing was to alert the public about a possible industrial crisis in public universities across Nigeria if both federal and state governments fail to address lingering issues.
He listed the unresolved matters to include: payment of the withheld three-and-a-half-month salary of lecturers, settlement of arrears of the 25–35% wage award, payment of over four years’ promotion arrears, release of third-party deductions, provision of revitalization funds, and sustainable financing of public universities.
The ASUU zonal coordinator also decried what he described as the “very poor welfare conditions” of lecturers at Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University (COOU), Anambra State, and Imo State University (IMSU), both owned by state governments.
According to him, the two universities are among the worst in terms of welfare when compared to state universities in other regions.
“As an illustration, there is no implementation of the 25–35% wage award, which commenced in 2022, nor payment of Earned Academic Allowances (EAA) in any of these two universities.
“The operation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) in IMSU hampers academic activities and stifles progress. Imo State University should be removed from the TSA in line with the principle of university autonomy.
“These ugly situations, including the withholding of salaries of some of our members in COOU, are unacceptable to ASUU Owerri Zone,” he said.
The union called on the state governors, who are Visitors to the universities, as well as their Governing Councils, to urgently address the welfare concerns of lecturers in the two institutions.
