Ekiti Varsity Workers Protest Unpaid Allowances, Others

Lecturers and Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities at the Ekiti State University have staged protests at the campus to press home their demands from the state government and the university management.

The protesters on Monday occupied the university and caused a standstill of traffic and activities on campus for over two hours. They were seen singing solidarity songs and vowed to increase the intensity of the protest day by day.

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The unions are protesting non-payment of three months’ salary arrears dated 2018, six years of earned academic allowances, and unremitted cooperative deductions among other demands.

The Chairman of the Academic Staff Union of EKSU, Mr. Kayode Arogundade, accused that the state governor, Kayode Fayemi, has shunned several appeals from the Union and other intermediaries.

“As of today, Ekiti State Government is only subverting EKSU by 50% of its monthly wage bills without paying any considerable attention to capital grants and infrastructural developments,” he said.

“This has led EKSU Administration to ingloriously indulge in financial infractions, such as Subversion of Tax Deductions to paying salaries; Diversion of Pension deductions to paying salaries and Fund diversion from units of the University.

“This is just the beginning; we are going to do this until we occupy the government house. After all, we are asking for our rights. If we go on strike the children of ordinary Nigerians will be home, the VC and Chairman of Council will be at home spending our money, the governor will be at home spending our resources.

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“Before we go on strike, we will make this state ungovernable for them, we’ll make this school ungovernable for them.”

The unions promised to go beyond the usual strike action this time as they have threatened to make the university and state ungovernable until their demands are met.

But the state government has blamed the situation on over-bloated recruitment done by the immediate past administration and the inability of the university to meet its own portion of subversion.

Special Adviser to Governor Kayode Fayemi on Tertiary Education, Sikiru Eniola pleaded with the protesters to embrace dialogue and also find alternative funding channels in the face of dwindling revenue.