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Lecturers of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo State, took to the streets of the university town on Wednesday to protest the deplorable conditions at the state-run tertiary institution.
Waving placards and banners with slogans such as “ASUU AAU Ekpoma FG/Edo Govt should pay all withheld salaries of ASUU members during the 2022 ASUU strike”, “ASUU AAU Ekpoma calls for termination of the 2009 FGN/ASUU agreement”, “Those who looted AAU funds should be brought to justice”, “A worker deserves his salary”, among others, the teachers chanted solidarity songs.
Led by the Benin Zonal Coordinator of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof. Monday Igbafen and the AAU President of the union, Cyril Onogbosele, the lecturers accused Governor Godwin Obaseki and the acting Vice Chancellor, Prof. Sonnie Adagbonyin, of being harsh and abandoning the school.
Despite the harsh weather, university professors have lashed out at the authorities, who have neglected their well-being and refused to establish a proper Board of Directors in place of the Special Intervention Team (SIT), which has been managing the school’s affairs for over two years.
Dr. Onogbosele, who spoke at the end of the peaceful march, said that having reached the limit of their endurance, the teachers decided to stage a protest over local and national issues currently plaguing the institution.
He said: “The federal government must conclude the renegotiations on our agreement regarding salary, funding of university autonomy and many other issues.
“This has been going on for years since 2009. Many of us have not had a pay rise and have suffered several inflations in this country, so much so that what we earn as academics has lost value.”
The ASUU chairman said state and federal governments should revise salaries upwards in line with inflationary pressure.
Dr. Onogbosele strongly criticized the AAU authorities for perpetuating injustice and impunity, which has led to non-payment of salaries to some teachers for over 30 months, a situation that has impoverished many of them, leading to premature death due to their inability to pay medical bills.
He said, “They have not been found guilty of any misconduct that would warrant such treatment. They are still working, in the university services. Enough of this punishment. There is also the issue of the salaries of the workers who stayed for eight months during the 2022 strike. They have not been paid yet. The faculty members of the federal universities were paid for four months, but here at AAU, the state government has not paid for a month.”
Dr Onogbosele said the union dues of ASUU members at the state college, deducted monthly from their salaries since 2020, should be paid to the union, as well as the issue of delay in promotion should be resolved.
https://concordmail.blogspot.com/2024/07/protest-rocks-aau-over-deplorable.html?m=1
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