Varsity Lecturers Have Become Uber Drivers, Beggars – ASUU Chairman

Chairman of the University of Ilorin branch of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) Dr Alex Akanmu has said members of the union have become Uber drivers and beggars because of their poor conditions of service.

He added that some of the lecturers had become outright beggars to be able to provide their families’ needs.

Speaking in an interview with LEADERSHIP Sunday in Ilorin yesterday, he noted that some of the lecturers had also resorted to loans to survive.

“It’s obvious that members are going through serious hardship at the moment.  Many can no longer cope with their medication. With the recent rise in the value of the dollar, the take home pay has been greatly devalued.  People now live on borrowing,  cooperatives and outright begging or sourcing via extra engagements like farming, Uber driving and extended family assistance in rare cases.

“The situation has gone so bad to the point that academics now have to sleep in their offices, abandon their cars to join public buses and sometimes trek to cover some distances in an attempt to reduce costs,” Akanmu said.

Lamenting that the lecturers’ salaries had remained stagnant for the past 16 years, Akanmu added, “This continued inaction has further pauperised Nigerian academics in comparison to their global counterparts. It is important to stress that ASUU has not forgotten that all these renegotiation efforts initiated by the federal government itself have led to nowhere, as the resulting draft agreements were never implemented.”

He  urged the federal government to address the re-negotiation of the 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement, sustainable funding/revitalisation of universities, university autonomy, outstanding 25-35 percent salary arrears and third-party deduction, promotion arrears for over four years, non-payment and mainstreaming of Earned Academic Allowance in public universities.

He said, “The agreement focused on  funding for universities to be defrayed within  three years at the cost of  N1.5 trillion, provision for teaching and research tools, assistance for federal and state universities with sources of finding worked out.

“The template for renumeration and supervision allowances in line with carrying capacity was agreed to between chapters 3 and 4 of the documents,” Akanmu added.