Lecturers at the Kwara State University (KWASU), Malete, have raised fresh concerns over the non-payment of their earned academic allowances, which they say have been outstanding since 2015/2016.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), KWASU chapter, staged a protest at the institution, urging Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq to intervene and fulfill his promise of paying the allowances.
Speaking during the protest, the chapter chairman, Professor Abdulganiyu Sheu Salau, said several appeals and consultations with the governor and top government officials had failed to yield results.
“We are pleading with Governor Abdulrazaq again to pay us our academic earned allowances. In the last couple of weeks, the Federal Government released N50 billion to Nigerian universities and some of our colleagues elsewhere received between ₦750,000 and ₦1 million, depending on their cadre.
“In Kwara State University, Malete, there was nothing like that. Despite meeting with commissioners, permanent secretaries, and even a seven-man committee set up to review our report, nothing has been done,” he lamented.
Professor Abdulganiyu expressed disappointment that despite several letters and reports, the issue remains unresolved. He suggested that either the governor was not fully aware of their plight or government officials were failing to communicate their grievances to him.
The union insisted that with improved subventions and allocations to the state, the lecturers deserved to be paid, especially as the governor had earlier promised to do so once finances improved.
“We are waiting and expecting him to pay our academic earned allowances, as we are committed to doing the needful. Strike remains our last option, but if nothing is done, we may have no choice but to act,” Abdulganiyu warned.
The ASUU chairman described the protest as a final warning, stressing that lecturers have exercised patience for nearly a decade and deserve immediate action from the government.
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