Judex Okoro, Calabar
Members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, University of Calabar Chapter, have protested non-payment of salary arrears and other local entitlements for over six years.
The ASUU members, who converged at the UNICAL International Conference Centre in large numbers with their placards, took their protest to the main gate and the administrative building to register their grievances.
Some of the placards, carried by the lecturers read, “pay our CES arrears,” “pay our GSS arrears,” “pay our postgraduate thesis supervision,” “pay our promotion arrears,” and “pay our study fellowship and conference attendance arrears”.
Speaking during the protest, the chairman of ASUU, UNICAL chapter, Dr John Edor, said the unpaid honorarium range from four to six years depending on the sub-head.
Edor said they have been asking for their arrears before the COVID-19 pandemic and introduction of IPPIS monster which have 1compounded our problems, urging the university management to act quickly to save the situation.
He said: “Our grievances are that for a number of years now, members of ASUU, University of Calabar Chapter have been working and our entitlements have not been paid.
“Such entitlements include teaching of GSS Courses, Graduate Thesis Supervision Allowance, CES Courses, Sandwich programmes, Pre-degree and promotion arrears.
“I wish to state also that some of our members have been employed and they commenced payment of their salaries but we still have unpaid backlog and that is what we call salary arrears.
“Even if the federal government has refused to pay our salaries, but what we have earned, which is running into years, should be immediately paid.
“The lock down has made it impossible for us to go and source for other legitimate means of livelihood to feed our families”, Edor said.
According to him, this protest is just the beginning and if our entitlements are not paid, “we will commence an operation occupy UNICAL.”
No member of the management was around to address the protesting lecturers.