The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Adekunle Ajasin University (AAU), Akungba-Akoko, Ondo State, has called on the state Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, and other stakeholders in the state to save the institution from death.
The union said the university was suffering from under-funding and needed the state government to, as a matter of urgency, come to its rescue, to save it from collapse.
READ ALSO: BREAKING: Police ‘Take Over’ Afrika Shrine Over #EndSARS Meeting
The Chairman of the union, Dr. Simon Ehiabhi, at a briefing said there was a need for urgent financial intervention and increased funding for the proper running of the school by the state government. He urged the government to bail the varsity out of its present financial predicament.
According to him, the monthly subvention to the university in the 2015/2016 academic session was ₦212.5m, but the fund had been reduced to ₦148m by the state government since 2017.
He said, “The union, therefore, finds it difficult to understand the rationale behind the reduction of the budgetary allocation to a growing university like AAUA by the state government.
“The drop in the monthly subvention and budgetary allocation to the university is negatively affecting the capacity of the university to discharge its responsibilities, including prompt payment of salaries, and release of union and cooperative deductions.
“It is, therefore, disheartening to note that because of the drastic drop in subvention, which amounts to under-funding, the university is owing ASUU-AAUA over ₦12m as members check-off dues, while the Academic Staff Cooperative Multipurpose Society is being owed over ₦100m, which are deductions from academic staff salaries.”
