Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in Modibbo Adama University (MAU), Yola, has lamented that Nigerian university professors are the lowest paid in the world.
The branch leader, El-Maude Gambo Jibreel, testified to this at a press briefing in Yola yesterday. He said, "Our members have been on the same salary for over 15 years; the last time our salaries were reviewed was in 2009."
He said, "Lecturers in Nigeria are the least paid in Africa, not to talk of the global average, we are the worst paid in the world, as a professor earns less than $300 per month at the current rate of N1,489 per dollar in a month."
He lamented that many Nigerians do not understand the strike it had been embarking on for years. He said, " There is a need for the public to understand what the struggle of ASUU is all about and join hands with ASUU to save the educational sector in Nigeria and place Nigeria on the development path.
"The exclusive wisdom behind the 2022 eight months strike action was to make the FGN implement the Memorandum of Action (MoA) of February 7, 2019, which our Union and FGN agreed upon without any duress.
"As a Union, we were and still are not demanding the government to do anything new but the implementation of what we agreed upon in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2022 with FGN", he said.
He also lamented the fact that the federal government's budget for the country's universities does not go into the university's account, saying that "the budgetary allocation to education has been so disappointing, to worsen the situation, only a small fraction of what is budgeted for is released to universities.
"In the last budgetary exercise, N170 billion was earmarked as a revitalisation fund. Unfortunately, the money has not reached the universities. The level of decay in the infrastructure in the public universities in Nigeria can better be imagined," he said.
He also called on people, especially those passionate about national development, to join hands to bring back the country's glory.
"Our union is in a patriotic struggle to reposition the Nigerian university system. As a consequence, we are calling on all well-meaning and patriotic Nigerians, the media, labour movement, students' organisations, and civil society to join forces with ASUU in ensuring we safeguard the future of our dear country," he said.
