Salary Cut: ASSU Unical Zone Decries High Death Rate Among Members

Adamu Adamu, Minister of Education 

Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU,  University of Calabar Zone, has bemoaned the high rate of mortality rate  among its members  in the past one year.

The union blamed the development on the persistent shortfall in the payment of monthly salaries to them following the cut  in subvention  sent to the universities by the Federal Government.

According to the  leaders of the zonal ASUU, comprising Universities  of Calabar,  Uyo,  and  state universities of Abia, Ebonyi and the Cross River University of Technology,  the university system in the country is once again undergoing dark cloud and tension due mainly to the shortfall  in subvention to universities by the federal government.

In a statement  signed by Professor Nsing Ogar, Coordinator of the Unical ASUU  zone alongside  Dr. Tony Eyang, Chairman of Unical chapter, Dr Aniekan Brown of Uniyo  chapter, Dr Emmanuel Etta of the Cross River University of Technology chapter, they blamed the situation on the shortfall in their monthly salaries.

“The shortfall, which vary from institution to institution run into hundreds of millions and tens of millions for others. Consequently, fragments of salaries are being paid staff with some 80% and  others 90%  from December 2015 to January 2017.

“This anomaly has thrown university workers into unprecedented agony, difficulties and  embarrassment as if the already existing harsh economic realities characterised  by soaring inflation are not enough and this have made mince meat of academics with large numbers of them dying prematurely.”

The ASUU leaders said  the situation has  led to the death of 12 lecturers in the University of Calabar and eight in the University of Uyo which “has dampened the morale and killed the maximum output by university workers”  and called on the federal government and the governing councils of universities to urgently address the situation before more havoc is wreaked on the academic system in the country.

“The persistent shortfalls and now deeper cuts in salaries have killed the struggle of academics ,killed incentives which make it imperative for the federal government and the governing councils to address the situation with immediate effect,” they said.

According to the lecturers, the cut in salaries led them to embark on warning strike  in November last year after 11 months of fruitless engagement with the federal government  prompting the presidency to approve virement by the National Assembly to address the situation.

“Sadly, more than three months after the virement, the arrears of shortfall have remained unpaid for many universities and the cuts in salaries have even deepened; this is incomprehensible,” the lecturers said.

They concluded that between the 25th and 26th of March, the National Executive Council, NEC, of ASUU would  meet in Yola  to decide on what action to take if no action is taken to address the situation before then.