Universities in Nigeria are battling a severe shortage of staff as thousands of lecturers leave the tertiary institutions to seek greener pastures in foreign lands amid the high number of retirements at the varsities.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities branches in separate interviews with The PUNCH on Sunday confirmed this, adding that the shortage was due to the surge in the exit of the lecturers out of Nigeria and the concerns around the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System.
ASUU at the Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, 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, as 100 workers at the University of Uyo travelled out of the country.
The union disclosed that about 500 academic vacancies existed at the University of Ilorin in Kwara State, while both academic and non-academic staff of the Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology were leaving 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.
IPP 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 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.”
On the shortage of lecturers, Odiwe said, “Our members have gone and many are still planning to leave especially, the younger ones in the system.
“Yes, Japa has contributed immensely to it. It is natural as humans that we want to work or live in a place where we are valued, where we will be fulfilled and contribute to the growth and development of our society.
Credit : Punch .
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