Taraba varsity lecturers protest poor welfare as FUW stands by ASUU’s decision

The Academic Staff Union of University (ASUU), Taraba State chapter on Wednesday staged a peaceful protest over poor welfare.

Our correspondent reports that the union’s action came barely a week after Governor Darius Ishaku commended the staff of the state university during the combined convocation for their hard work which has made the university rank 17th in the country according to the National Universities Commission (NUC).

The protesting staff rose from their congress and staged a peaceful protest around the university campus, demanding improved welfare.

Dr Samuel Shiikaa, the university ASUU chairman told journalists during the protest that members were tired of signing memoranda of understanding with the state government which are never implemented.

“Since 2009, we have been signing memoranda of understanding with the state government, but the government will always not honour its own side.

“Our members are tired of the memos and want the government to honour its agreement to pay pension and ensure the timely promotion of its members.

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“We have submitted all the documents for the implementation of pension scheme for our members as agreed with the government since last year and government has not done anything about it.

“Today, the N10 million that was promised to defray the accumulated Earned Academic Allowance(EAA) effective April 2021 has not been implemented as agreed.

“At the moment, payment of fractional salaries has become a regular occurrence in the university and there seem to be deliberate efforts to address it,” he said.

The ASUU members who came out of their congress protested around the campus carrying placards with inscriptions such as “No pension, no work”, “pay us our allowances,” “we don’t want any memo again” among others.

Meanwhile, the union at the Federal University Wukari has resolved to go by the resolutions that will be reached by the national secretariat of ASUU.

This resolution was reached at the end of the congress of the union held at the university.

Addressing newsmen shortly after their congress, the branch chairman, Comrade Joseph Ikwebe, said the institution has declared Wednesday a lecture-free day in order to enlighten students and parents about the plights of ASUU.

He said the union will remain committed and abide by the decision of the ASUU national secretariat concerning the next line of action

According to him, the key demand of ASUU remains the implementation of the renegotiated 2009 agreement the union signed with the Federal Government, replacement of IPPIS with UTAS, Earn Academic Allowances, Funding for the revitalisation of public Universities and enabling laws to prevent the proliferation of state Universities among other.

He called on relevant stakeholders to the intimate federal government to meet the demands of ASUU to avert another disruption of the nation’s university academic calendar.