Dr Alex Akanmu, Chairman of the University of Ilorin chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), has claimed members of the union have turned to Uber drivers and beggars because of their poor conditions of service.
In a recent interview in Ilorin, Akanmu noted that some lecturers had also resorted to taking out loans to make ends meet.
“It is obvious that members are going through severe hardship at the moment. Many can no longer cope with their medication. With the recent rise in the value of the dollar, take-home pay has been significantly devalued.
“People now live on borrowing, cooperatives and outright begging or sourcing via extra engagements like farming, Uber driving and extended family assistance in rare cases. The situation has gone so bad to the point that academics now have to sleep in their offices, abandon their cars to join public buses and sometimes trek to cover some distances in an attempt to reduce costs,” Akanmu added.
Speaking further, he lamented that the lecturers’ salaries had remained stagnant for the past 16 years, “This continued inaction has further pauperised Nigerian academics in comparison to their global counterparts. It is important to stress that ASUU has not forgotten that all these re-negotiation efforts initiated by the federal government itself have led nowhere, as the resulting draft agreements were never implemented.
He appealed to the federal government to address the re-negotiation of the 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement, sustainable funding/revitalisation of universities, university autonomy, outstanding 25-35 per cent salary arrears and third-party deduction, promotion arrears for over four years, non-payment and mainstreaming of Earned Academic Allowance in public universities.
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