ASUU-KSU vs Kogi Government: Between Facts And Fiction

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Press Conference on ASUU-KSU vs Government impasse: Between Facts And Fiction on Tuesday, 6th June, 2017 at the ASUU Secretariat, KSU Anyigba.
Gentlemen of the press.
There is a need to keep you constantly abreast of the long-drawn struggle between ASUU-KSU Anyigba on the one hand and the University Administration and the Kogi State Government on the other, to adequately keep the public duly educated and informed. The total, comprehensive and indefinite strike action granted to the branch by the national body of ASUU on February 3rd 2017 is over four months now. Regrettably, the Kogi State Government has not demonstrated enough commitment to the timely resolution of the issues that led to the strike.
For the avoidance of doubt and at the risk of repetition, ASUU-KSU presented a catalogue of issues needing immediate attention to both the Kogi State Government and the Governing Council via a letter dated 24th May, 2016 and formal presentation to the Council on the 31st March, 2017. However, for the immediate amelioration of the fast deteriorating condition of KSU Anyigba, other equally important issues were put in abeyance in favour of the more critical demands: reconstitution of the Governing Council for proper governance and the payment of all arrears of salaries and their components owed to all categories of the academic staff. The Governing Council has been reconstituted and this is commendable. The more important obligation that is incumbent upon every employer of labour both lawfully and morally, that is, the payment of salaries and their components has not been addressed. The government has not shown adequate appreciation of the gravity of workers being owed salaries for several months.
CURRENT STATE OF SALARY PAYMENT
The reported claim in some quarters that 95% of salaries owed the academic staff of KSU, Anyigba has been paid is not only fallacious but utterly misleading. From available records, of the 517 academic staff of the University, 275 representing 53.19% are  being owed salary arrears of 3, 4, 5, 6, 9 and 12 months. This figure is made up of tenure, sabbatical, contract, staff studying overseas and 2015 employees.
Gentlemen of the press, it may interest you to know that only 242 or 46.81% of the academic staff members have so far received salaries up to March 2017. The breakdown of the staff yet to be paid is presented in tabular form below:
S/No. No. of Academic Staff Owed Months Owed
1. 116 12 months
2. 2 9 months
3. 10 6 months
4. 39 5 months
5. 5 4 months
6. 3 3 months
Total 275

The 95% payment being peddled runs short of any conceivable correlation with the reality on ground. The government by its action has made it very difficult to be believed or taken by its word. The promise to pay N50m monthly till the Earned Academic Allowances (EAA) owed is liquidated was abandoned after only four months payments as at December, 2016. This is contrary to the assurance that the government would increase the monthly installment of N100m with effect from January 2017 when the outstanding amount would have been captured in the budget. From January to date, nothing has been paid.
It is curious that the implementation of annual incremental salary step with effect from October of every year has been put on hold since October 2016 and no reason has been adduced from this strange development.
NONPAYMENT OF SALARIES AND ITS ATTENDANT EFFECTS ON ACADEMIC STANDARD
The nonpayment of salaries no doubt has effects on both the affected staff and the academic standard of the University. These effects as they relate to contract staff, staff on sabbatical leave, 2015 employees and staff studying overseas are x-rayed below.
Contract Staff – These are the doyens of intellectuals in their various fields. On their shoulders lie the quality, success or failure of postgraduate programme in the various departments, particularly at the postgraduate level. The engagement of contract staff is a standard practice in Universities the world over.
Sabbatical Staff – Statutorily, every Senior academic staff can proceed on sabbatical leave of one year to another University for cross fertilization of ideas and collaborative research among others. They are also engaged for reasons of need in core courses and for accreditation purposes. This also, is a global practice.
2015 Academic Employees – Employment in universities is based on academic needs. The engagement of the 2015 academic staff in KSU followed due process.
ASUU KSU makes bold to say that without these categories of staff, several academic programmes in some Departments in the Faculties of Agriculture, Education, Natural Sciences and College of Health Sciences will cease to function. This will lead to denial of accreditation by the National Universities Commission (NUC) in such Departments/Faculties/College. Such an eventuality will take the University back to the dark days of 2005, when virtually all the programmes in the University failed accreditation.
Staff studying overseas – The current condition of this category of staff is pathetic as they have not been paid for 12 months. There is a justifiable fear that the affected staff might not want to return to KSU upon the completion of their programme. The implication of that on the academic development of the University is obvious.
Way forward 
ASUU KSU as a stakeholder in the University system and desirous of seeing to a speedy resolution of the ongoing impasse, hereby calls on Council and the Kogi State Government to ensure the payment of all arrears of salaries and their components (balance of February 2017 salary, EAA and annual incremental step) owed all its members till date.
Aluta Continua, Victoria acerta!!
Dr. D.O. Aina
Ag. Chairman

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