Igbawase Ukumba in Lafia
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) yesterday threatened to shutdown the Nasarawa State University Keffi (NSUK) over non-payment of earned academic allowance been owed its members in the university by the Nasarawa State government.
Chairman of NSUK-ASUU, Dr. Samuel Alu, issued the threat at a news conference in Keffi, calling on the state government to as a matter of urgency pay its members their EAA that has accumulated to the tune of N900 million in order to avoid a showdown with the union.
He said: “Recall that the union had signed a memorandum of Action (MoA) with the Nasarawa State government and Council of the University, leading to the suspension of the 2016 strike in June and the recently agreed Earned Academic Allowance (EAA).
“For over five years on, the government of Nasarawa State has reneged on its promises to the union.
“The state government should as a matter of urgency honour its promises to the union and immediately take up the university staff salary in full, as well as mainstreaming of the agreed EAA of its members and the payment of the arrears of the earned academic allowance that has accumulated into years, amounting to N900 million.”
He also expressed worries at the way the university was being poorly funded, pointing out that the university management has for over four years mainstreamed the excess workload of other sister unions within the same university leaving out that of ASUU.
”The union therefore condemned in strong terms this unjust treatment unleashed on its members. There are other demands of the union which the state government must address. This includes poor funding, domestication and implementation of compulsory retirement age of 70 years for academic staff, among others.
“From the foregoing, the Nasarawa State government is precipitating another round of industrial crisis in the Nasarawa State University Keffi by the non release of outstanding EAA and mainstreaming of the EAA to their salary, which is the case in other sister unions on campus,” Alu concluded.
