AAU ASSU Says 25 Member Have Died Since Insection Of SIT In AAU
By Editor
The institution's chairperson of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Dr. Cyril Onogbosele who disclosed this Thursday in Benin lamented that the ill-fated teachers can no longer take care of their health and that of their families due to suffering occasioned by lack of money.
Dr. Onogbosele who spoke with journalists said that, since 2021, things have so degenerated at the state owned tertiary institution due to the irregular and non-payment of salaries, that members of the association now live from hand to mouth.
He sadly remarked that there is a direct relationship between irregular payment of salaries and death, and also, the state of health of members, noting that such a dire situation results in ill-health which leads to death.
He wailed: "Within the period of focus, from that date to present, we have lost not less than 25 members from our records. This is since 2021. You see, we are in distress, we are in crisis.
"It is even more critical when you are ill and you don't even have the means, the financial well-withal to take care of your health. In that case, it has been revealed that there is a connection between non payment of salaries and death.
"We have the information of our members of what they have been passing through that even getting money to buy drugs, they could not get and in the end point, is death."
Dr. Onogbosele said for no just cause, many academic staff have been denied payment of salaries for 26 months since January 2022, noting that ever since, they have been working in pains, dying in silence without pay.
The unionist added that the affected teachers were not tried, or found wanting in violation of the University’s Law or Rules and Regulations to warrant denial of their salaries.
He alleged that the re-packaged slavery foisted on workers of AAU under the Special Intervention Team (SIT) and the University Administration was like what obtained during slavery and slave trade which were abolished hundreds of years ago.
Dr. Onogbosele noted that repeated statement by the SIT/Government that it is not owing staff of the university any salary, is a ploy to distract the public from the sordid reality of pains, hardship and poverty facing the staff of the state owned school.
The activist slammed SIT for the woes befalling the institution, disclosing that prospective students seeking admission to the university have dropped from 14,000 in the previous years to barely 3,000 in 2024.
As a way forward, Dr. Onogbosele demanded that selective/outright denial of payment of salaries of staff in the university should be resolved with payment of all outstanding salaries, insisting that anything short of that is an open invitation to industrial crisis, restiveness and an unwholesome university environment.
