1st July, 2015
Gbenro Adesina/Ibadan
Non-academic staff of the University of Ibadan (UI) on Wednesday went on strike over non payment of their allowances.
To make their strike effective, the non-academic staff stormed classrooms to force out lecturers who were teaching.
They equally closed all the classrooms to ensure that both lecturers and students do not have access to them for academic purposes.
The staff went further to close all the entrance gates to the university thereby not allowing anybody to go in or come out.
Efforts to speak to their executive members at the time of this report proved abortive as they were not reachable.
Our correspondent learnt that the crisis started when the non-academic staff believed that Federal Government has released the money to the school authority which does not want to pay it to them.
When they held a meeting with the school authority, they were told that the money had not been paid.
The Vice Chancellor, Professor Isaac Adewole had assured them at the meeting that as soon as it is paid, they will all be paid.
Further pressure on the school authority made the authority to promise that part of the allowances would be paid alongside June salary.
But the staff became annoyed when they received alerts that their June salary had been paid without the said allowance.
According to a UI bulletin titled, “Re: Demand for payment of arrears of earned allowances”, with serial number 3585, the management noted the intensification of demand for full implementation of the payment of earned allowances by some staff unions on campus.
It reads in part: “Specifically, Management noted the peaceful protest by members of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) and Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) on Monday, 2 June, 2015. It is pertinent to emphasize that Management has not received any additional allocation from the Federal Government for the settlement of the said allowances other than the one received in 2013.”
“However, Management wishes to reiterate its commitment to the promotion of the welfare of workers in the university. Management, therefore, pleads for understanding. Management wishes to state that as soon as it receives any further allocation from the Federal Government on the matter, payment will commence immediately.”