ASUU Requests Intervention from the NUC and the Edo State Government in the AAU Ekpoma Crisis

Ibekimi Oriamaja Reports

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has urged the National Universities Commission (NUC) and the Edo State Government to intervene immediately in the Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, industrial crisis in order to reposition the institution for better learning and development.

The ASUU, Benin Zone, made the announcement yesterday in Benin City at a news conference, which the union’s Coordinator, Prof. Fred Esumeh, said became necessary due to propaganda, mischief, and blackmail against the union’s branch in the institution.

Esumeh, who was joined by the chairmen of the zone’s branches, stated that the union was concerned about the university’s poor funding and mismanagement of its resources, as well as the management’s inability to meet its obligation to pay staff emoluments, resulting in irregular and selective salary payment.

According to him, the university’s recent reduction in monthly subvention to an abysmally low N41.3 million from N270 million had resulted in the workers being owed 20 months of salary arrears from 2020 to date, with 15 months of unremitted sundry deductions to staff unions.

He claimed that this brought the total amount owed by the university to union members and associations to N4 trillion.

“At this point, the state government must intervene to clear the arrears of emoluments of university workers.”

“For what it is, the problem is a catalyst for industrial crisis and, as such, a threat to the smooth operation of the academic calendar and the general administration of the university,” he explained.

The ASUU leader also described the institution’s current management model as strange and far from the idea administrative style of university administration in the country.

He noted that the institution was being run on an ad hoc basis with an amendment to its law that increased the Special Intervention Team (SIP) as opposed to the Governing Council required by the NUC.

Esumeh claimed that the school’s administration was de-marketing the quality and value of certificate of degree programs by forcing the resumption of academic activities and the illegal conduct of examinations with the input of relevant course lecturers.

Other issues that the ASUU coordinator stated required immediate attention from stakeholders included the suppression of staff rights and freedom of association, as well as controversial and inconclusive biometrics.

To achieve industrial peace at the university, the union leader stated that management and the Edo government must return to the path of truth, dialogue, and a genuine commitment to resolving the crisis.

“All outstanding emoluments – salaries, check-off dues, and other deductions of university staff should be paid immediately to avoid the continuation of the local strike when the national strike is suspended.”

“The Edo Government should approve a bailout fund for the university and increase the monthly subvention to the university satisfactorily.”

“The university’s ongoing academic fraud should be investigated and dealt with decisively.” As a result, we urge the NUC, the regulatory agency, to act immediately.

“The Edo Government should move quickly to release a white paper on the Special Visitation Panel’s report to the university in October 2020 to deter further embezzlement of the university’s finances and mismanagement of its affairs,” he said.

As a result, Esumeh has called for the restoration of the governing council in order to allow for the immediate appointment of substantive principal officers.