From Nabob Ogbonna, Abakaliki
The Academic Staff Union of Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu -Alike Ikwo(AE-FUNAI) in Ebonyi State yesterday said the introduced Tertiary Institution Staff Support Loan (TISSF) introduced by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s led administration is a mockery.
AE-FUNAI ASUU further stated that the loan (TISSF) is a chain like that of the students (NELFUND.
The group stressed that either the lecturers or the students would even pay off such loans judging from the present economic realities facing the nation.
The university ASUU members made this known on Tuesday at the university campus when they staged a peaceful protest, demanding the release of their three and half months salaries unpaid by the federal government.
Salient Times reports that academic activities at the Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu -Alike Ikwo(AE-FUNAI) was completely paralyzed during the protest.
AE-FUNAI ASUU chairman Comrade Louis Omenyi who led the protest, asked federal government to implement the 2009 agreement reached between the union and the federal government.
According to him, “This so-called TISSF or better called”slavish loan ” is the height of the mockery.
“We are asking again, how would government turn round to offer the impoverished workers impossible and slavish loan in a depressed economy instead of completing formalities for implementation of a commensurate salary structure?
“How can a responsible government, in the face of these debts owned university lecturers turn around to ask university -based unions to take the responsibility of guaranteeing the loan she wants to offer to workers? Which salary will be used for the repayment.
“Again, no academic activity will be permitted in this university today and we demanding federal government of Nigeria to re-negotiate completely, accept and implement 2009 agreement with our union.
“The salaries we are getting is obsolete and expired when compared to today’s economic reality.
“So, we are asking that our three and half months salary withheld by this wicked government should be released immediately.
“We are asking the federal government of Nigeria led by Bola Ahmed Tinubu that if he allows universities to close in Nigeria, we will do more than Ghana.
“Our EAs should be mainstreamed into our salaries as he promised. We are asking that university autonomy and academic freedom should be granted.
“And such is an insulting our sensibilities that a government that pays her workforce with outdated salary structure adopted 17 years ago, will refuse to re-negotiate the same salary since 2012.
“A government refusing to release three and half months salaries of the lecturers, refuse to remit third party deductions for some of the salaries paid almost a year ago, refused to pay promotion arrears but chose to dangle an unattainable loan at the faces of devastated lecturers”, he queried.
