Ighomuaye Lucky, Benin
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) Benin Zone, on Thursday, called on governor Ajimobi Abiola of Oyo State and his Osun State counterpart, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, to resign as governors of both states for their inability to pay salary arrears to staff of Ladoke Akintola University (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso.
The zonal coordinator, ASUU, Prof. Fred Esumen, made the call while addressing journalists in Benin-City on the state of the university.
He said every worker is entitled to his wages which serves as a motivating factor to him and that when he is paid, the worker will lack the right attitude to work, adding that one who employs staff and cannot pay for the services rendered him by his employee, has no business in employing staff.
“One would have thought that in an ideal situation, when a government and indeed any establishment engage workers, the workers deserve to be paid their wages.
“This is not the case in LAUTECH where the two visitors to the university have shied away from their responsibilities and have conspired to deny the workers in that university their rights to wages.
“It is therefore our view that what is left for these visitors is to honourably resign for not meeting up with what is expected of their offices”, he said.
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Esumen decried the high level of neglect meted to the university co-owned by both states, pointing out that instead of the two governors to come together to resuscitate the institution from total collapse, they have chosen to establish additional universities in their own states respectively.
“For the umpteenth time, our union ASUU, emphasized that education is the fulcrum upon which growth and development of any nation revolves. Yet, education, is brutally neglected by our leaders in Nigeria.
“The case of LAUTECH is very pathetic; owned by the two states of Oyo and Osun, yet lacks so much especially at the level of funding.
“In fact, the chronic underfunding of LAUTECH has manifested itself in so many ugly forms; viz, over-bloated students population, outrageous fee regimes, poor state of infrastructural facilities, inadequate staff development programme, unpaid promotion arrears and unpaid salaries of workers running into 10 months.
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“Rather than redress the abnormality of under-funding, the two states have since established additional universities, each in their respective states”, he said.
The ASUU zonal coordinator called on Nigerians and lovers of education to come to the rescue of the institution, adding that proliferation of institutions is not the solution to the problem besetting education in the country but poor funding.