By Peter Omopo
Lecturers at the University of Uyo (UNIUYO) on Tuesday joined the nationwide protest organized by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), demanding the implementation of the renegotiated 2009 agreement and improved welfare for university teachers.
The protest, which brought academic and social activities across the university’s three campuses to a halt, saw professors and senior lecturers march through the town campus, the annex, and Ikpa Road, carrying placards with inscriptions such as: “Our salaries are too poor,” “Treat lecturers with dignity,” and “Pay us sustainable living salaries.”
All examinations scheduled for the day, including Computer-Based Tests, were suspended. Students who arrived for tests were turned back.
Addressing the protesters, the UNIUYO ASUU Chairperson, Prof. Opeyemi Olajide, lamented that Nigerian university lecturers have been on the same salary structure for over 16 years despite worsening economic conditions. He faulted the Federal Government for refusing to implement the renegotiated 2009 agreement or review salaries that were due since 2012.
Olajide also decried the non-payment of third-party deductions and arrears of promotion, insisting that the union would no longer tolerate the government’s neglect of lecturers’ welfare.
“The Federal Government has withheld our salaries for three and a half months even after we had done the job. We have been on the same salary for 16 years. The government has refused to fund infrastructure in public universities. We are not happy about it, and that is why there will be no examinations today,” Olajide told the protesting lecturers and students.
Former UNIUYO ASUU chairperson, Dr. Nwachukwu Anyim, accused the Federal Government of hypocrisy for contemplating salary reviews for political office holders while neglecting lecturers.
“If you expect university lecturers to earn the same salary for over 15 years while considering a review of the already jumbo pay of politicians, that is wickedness of the highest order,” he said.
The union warned that it may resort to an indefinite strike if the government fails to address their grievances.
