…say July, August salary still pending
Workers in Ondo State-owned tertiary institutions have appealed to Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa over the non-payment of accumulated salaries and arrears, saying the situation has left many struggling to survive amid the harsh economic climate.
The workers, drawn from Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA); Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology (OAUSTECH), Okitipupa; University of Medical Sciences (UNIMED), Ondo; and Rufus Giwa Polytechnic (RUGIPO), Owo, expressed their frustration in interviews on Sunday.
They said many staff could no longer afford basic needs, pay school fees, or keep up with rent payments.
Some claimed they were yet to receive their July salaries, with August also ending without payment.
Chairman of the Joint Action Committee (JAC), Comrade Olutayo Ogungbeni, speaking on behalf of the workers, said they were “dying of hunger” due to the delays, stressing that the subvention to some schools, particularly AAUA, is inadequate to meet salary obligations.
He appealed to the governor to intervene and ensure timely payment of salaries to ease the workers’ financial burden.
“As of today now, we are yet to receive the July salary. So, if we should count August, which will end next week, it shows we are automatically being owed two months’ salaries as workers of the institution.
“And as I speak, there’s no hope that by next week they will pay us the salary. I remember during our struggle; an increase in subvention to the schools, especially AAUA, was a major issue we discussed with the governor.
“N560 million monthly subvention to AAUA where salary would be paid including for pensioners, but the state government is releasing only N223 million, thereby leaving the school to augment it. You can imagine that the margine is far,” he said.
Ogungbeni added, “Apart from AAUA, the challenge with other state owned-institution, especially in RUGIPO and UNIMED, is that they are yet to be paid the 2024 National minimum wage.”
He called on Governor Aiyedatiwa to help the workers in the payment of their salary, saying there are ‘dependents’ who depend solely on them to survive financially.
Ogungbeni said, “No staff will have less than two to four children, and now there’s no salary. We are appealing to the governor to fulfil the promise made to JAC of increasing the subvention to the schools so that people will not die prematurely and they can get their salary as at when due.
“As I speak with you, some of our colleagues [University workers] are sick. They don’t have the money to buy drugs or pay for hospital treatment. Many can’t even afford food. We go to school hungry and return hungry.
“Although we know the problem confronted by the state is the issue of the multi-tertiary institutions but the state is capable if you are to consider the increase in the federal allocation to the state every month.”
Prof. Igbekele Ajibefun, the commissioner for education in the state, could not immediately react when contacted via his official line by The Nation on Sunday.
Ajibefun, however, promised to get back to one reporter but did not do so as of the time of publishing this story.
But impeccable government sources said the Governor Aiyedatiwa has promised to look into the agitations of the workers by setting up a visitation panel to look into what is accurable into the institutions.
“I think there’s corruption somewhere and the government would likely set up a committee to investigate the spending of the institutions and their IGR to determine how they’re spending the subventions and who is earning what in the schools,” one the sources told the Nation.
