The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) said that dearth in varsities was due to the surge in the exit of lecturers out of Nigeria and irregularities around the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System, IPPIS.
The Union in various varsities’ branches confirmed this in an interview on Sunday, 26th November, 2023.
The Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto branch of ASUU, said about 100 lecturers had left the university, while the union at the Federal University, Gusau, Zamfara, disclosed that the institution was in need of about 1,000 lecturers to fill the vacancies created by those who had left.
The union at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State said over 350 academic vacancies were available at the institution, while 27 lecturers had left two faculties at the University of Lagos, and 100 workers at the University of Uyo travelled out of the country.
The Chairman, Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology, Okitipupa, Ondo State, Dr. Rotimi Olorunsola, said many of the staff of the institution, both academic and non-academic had left the university. The union disclosed that about 500 academic vacancies existed at the University of Ilorin in Kwara State due to same fortune.
The Chairman of ASUU, University of Benin, Dr Ray Chikogu, said the shortage of staff in UNIBEN and other universities had been a problem that existed for a long time due to the embargo on employment by the Federal Government, which has constituted undue interference by the government in the running of the universities, especially as it affected the recruitment and promotion of staff.
He added, “The teaching staff department is grossly understaffed. For a very long time, academic staff has been overburdened with work in the University of Benin and many other universities in the country. The university has to obtain permission from the Head of Service through the Accountant-General’s Office”.
“What should have been handled by university senates and councils has now been centralized to the point that everything has been muddled up in the university system. It is a very sad situation”.
“Many are retiring and they are not being replaced and due to the unfavorable condition much academic staff work under, they have left their jobs and travelled abroad to seek greener pastures, adding to the big problem of brain drain, which is taking its toll on the university system and nothing is being done about it. It appears that the Federal Government is deliberately suffocating the system for reasons best known to them.”
The ASUU Chairman at the Federal University of Kashere, Gombe State, Dr Shehu El-Rasheed, said a lot of vacancies existed in the varsity due to bureaucratic bottlenecks brought by IPPIS, poor remuneration and harsh economic conditions; Vice-Chancellor needs to get clearance from about seven Federal Government agencies and parastatals before a single staffer is recruited.
“Senior professors are retiring and no replacement. In FUK, academic staff are leaving in numbers to countries such as Malaysia, Oman, New Zealand, and the US.”
IPPIS was introduced by the Federal Government a few years ago as part of measures to solve the problem of ghost workers and civil servants who earned multiple salaries.
However, a lot of workers, particularly those in universities, are not comfortable with the initiative, as it does not enable the institutions to employ workers even when such universities are highly understaffed.
The management of the Obafemi Awolowo University and the leadership of ASUU in the institution, while speaking in separate interviews, said there was a shortage of staff members in the university.
The Chairman of the Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU ASUU, Prof Tony Odiwe, decried the poor treatment of academic staff members and demanded a better working environment for the lecturers.
He said, “The government doesn’t care about the system, treating us as if we are slaves, terrible conditions of service, no motivation, and poor facilities. In addition to this, retired members are not being replaced, we are extremely overworked.”
Meanwhile, the ASUU Chairman of the Federal University of Dutsinma, Dr Jibrin Shagari, said, “The FUDMA is affected by mass academy staff exodus, many academic staff have lost interest in their jobs because of insecurity, overloaded work, non-living wages, no leave due to semester running, withheld salaries, wages, and promotion arrears.