Academic activities were briefly suspended in Taraba State University on Friday when the Joint Action Committee, JAC, of Non-Academic Staff of University, NASU, and the Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities, SSANU, protested round the university premises over non-payment of their salaries and hazard allowances.
In their protest letter presented to the Vice Chancellor, Professor Sunday, the members expressed sadness over the alleged refusal of the state government to pay them their outstanding salaries and allowances.
Among the allowances the members are demanding includes payment of the outstanding salary balance of March and June 2022, payment of the outstanding responsibility and hazard allowances for September 2021, and payment of the 75% outstanding third-party deductions of October 2021.
Others are payment of the outstanding full salaries of July to December 2022, payment of the outstanding promotion arrears of the non-academic staff, payment of the Earned Administrative Allowances (EAA) for non-teaching staff on a ratio of 50:50 with the academic staff and the review of the usurpation of headships that are meant for the non-academic staff by the academic staff such as University Farm Manager, University Admission Officer, Director CBT, Director of ICT and Director of Sport.
Speaking, Solomon Ishaya Audu, NASU Chairman and Bitrus Joseph Ajibauka, SSANU Chairman, said the need for management of the institution to do the needful has become necessary.
The VC who was on ground to receive the protesters and their letter of complaint assured that the university management and the government are working to meet the staff’s legitimate demands.
He said: “We are working hard to meet your legitimate demands, I understand that for years, it has been the students’ fees the university has been using to meet the staff’s full salaries.”
He was sad that ever since he took over as the vice chancellor “students have not been on campus until a few months ago.”
The school authority in collaboration with the state government is working round the clock to bring the mirages of problems confronting the institution to an end, he assured.
The VC went ahead to appeal for patience “so that we can have students on campus and be able to have our full salaries,” noting that the “usual N120 million from the government can not meet up our full salaries.”