Teachers working in Staff School of Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife, Osun State, on Tuesday forced Governing Council of the institution to stop its meeting, as they stormed the Senate building of the university in protest against their removal from the payroll.
The noise from the protesters forced members of the council to abandon their meeting being held at the Senate Building and come to the scene.
The protesters, who carried placards with inscriptions such as “don’t kill us with hunger,” “implement Federal Government circular on Staff School,” “Reinstate teachers to payroll as directed by Federal Government,” among others, said workers in staff school were owed 18 months salary arrears.
The teachers, while demanding reinstatement back to payroll by the OAU management, said their salaries and allowances had been stopped since year 2016 and accused OAU management of disregarding the court order which stated that all staff school teachers should be on the payroll.
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During the protest which lasted over two hours, vehicular movement to the Senate Building was affected, as the protesters blocked the road leading to the building.
Addressing the news, Chairman, Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, Ademola Oketunde, said OAU management failed to implement court judgement that mandated it to include staff school workers on the payroll of the university.
He said, “The federal government sent a circular in August 2019 that the personnel of Staff School should be included in the 2020 budget and the budget has been signed and by the President.
“But the university is telling us that the federal government has refused to include our names. It is the duty of the university to collate our names and send to Abuja. We are being owned cumulatively 18 months salary arrears.
“The last time we were paid was October last year. Why we are here is not because we just want to get balance of 50% of salary that we started recieving last year October.
“If you want to clear 50% up to March, we are okay. But we are here purposely because that judgment that directed our reinstatement back on payroll must be a holistically implemented in OAU.”
Responding, OAU vice chancellor, Prof. Eyitope Ogunbodede, explained that Federal Government stopped paying salary of Staff School workers in January, 2016.
He said the management of university lacked power to reinstate the workers back on payroll.
He said “the last allocation from government was December, 2015. So, whatever has been paid to any staff of the staff school since January 2016 has been from the internally Generated Revenue of Obafemi Awolowo University.
“What the university has paid up to this moment is above N450 million. The university will only survive when money is actually released by the federal government and the government has not released money for the staff school Since January 2016.”
He then appealed to the protesters exercise patience, saying the council was making effort address their plight.
