ASUU LAUTECH demands payment of seven years EAA arrears

• Urges Makinde to save the institution from crisis
• Ekiti pensioners lament non-payment of gratuities, pensions
• Demand establishment of a ministry for senior citizens

The Academic Staff Union of University (ASUU), Ladoke Akintola University of Technology Chapter, has urged Governor Seyi Makinde to impress it on the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Mojeed Olaide Liasu and Chairman of the Governing Council, Prof. Deji Omole, to pay seven years of Earned Academic Allowance (EAA) arrears owed academic members of staff of the institution.

The union also accused the leadership of the university of denying academics their due promotion arrears, which is capable of dampening their morale.

In a statement jointly signed by its Chairman, Prof. Biodun Olaniran and Secretary, Toyin Abegunrin, yesterday, entitled: “LAUTECH Administration: A Slave Driver,” the union put the amount being owed members at over N5 billion.

The union said its members had lost confidence in the university administration, led by the acting Vice-Chancellor and the Deji Omole-led governing council, to pursue their welfare.

It urged the governor to immediately intervene before the situation degenerates into crisis in LAUTECH, saying: “It is rather unfortunate that the 2016 and 2017 avoidable crisis started because the then administration refused to address arrears of EAA. Apparently not learning from history, the current university administration and governing council are now toeing the same path.”

SIMILARLY, the Ekiti State pensioners, under the auspices of the Nigerian Union of Pensioners (NUP), yesterday, decried neglect by the state government, saying that their labour is now in vain.

The angry pensioners, who convened a special prayer session to seek God’s intervention on a solution to their plight because of the failure of the state government to discharge her obligation to them, said their pride was being rubbished daily.

The NUP Chairman, Joel Akinola, who spoke with newsmen before the commencement of the prayers, said pension arrears to state pensioners were three months, while that of the local council pensioners were seven months.

Akinola said that the gratuities for the state pensioners amounted to N18 billion and were last paid in July 2013, while that of the local council was N19.8 billion and was last paid in September 2012.

The pensioners, therefore, demanded a ministry for the elderly, which would be responsible for their welfare.