…Faculties of Law, Social Sciences, Management Sciences, Others Elected Unopposed

By Amaechi Agbo and Onyekachi Agu, Agbani

Professor Titus Owoh on Thursday emerged the new dean of Faculty of Education in ESUT, even as Prof Emenike Augusta lost her bid to retain her deanship position in Faculty of Environmental Sciences.

Prof Owoh saw of rival, Prof Chinedu Aguba as well as Prof Chinwe Chibuike to clinch the position in education.

In a hugely contested election held at the faculty auditorium with 90 voters, Prof Owoh of Department of Technology and Vocational Education, emerged winner with 43 votes. His closest rival, Prof Aguba got 41 votes while Prof Chibuike had 6 votes for his efforts.

At the Faculty of Environmental Sciences, the race was between incumbent dean, Prof Emenike Augusta and Prof Edmond Iyi.

Like what transpired in Nigeria’s 2015 generation election where an incumbent president, Goodluck Jonathan was defeated by Muhammadu Buhari, Prof Emenike lost the position to her rival, Prof Iyi.

Prof Iyi had a total of 24 votes to upstage his opponent, Prof Emenike who got 14 votes.

Election at the Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, saw the Director of Research, Prof Emeka Nze emerged winner.

Professor Nze’s emergency came after his rival, Prof Okoye stood down for him.

In the newly created Faculties of Biological Sciences and Physical Sciences, Professors E.O. Ogu and G.Z. Ugwu were elected pioneer deans, respectively.

In the Biological Sciences, Prof Ogu got 14 votes to see off competition from Prof H.O. Nwamba who had 4 votes. In the Physical Sciences, 25 votes polled by Prof G.Z. Ugwu were enough to secure the position for him against Prof Nnamebi who got 16 votes. In the build up to the election, Prof Ugwuoke stepped down for Prof Ugwu.

The deanship position at the Faculty of Engineering was hugely contested by two professors, Prof Thompson Chime and Prof Ebere Ameh. The results of the election showed that Prof Chime polled 45 votes to defeat Prof Ameh who had 33 votes.

Faculties of Law, Social Sciences and Humanities as well as Management Sciences had their deans elected unopposed.

Prof Ortuanya of Law had his seat preserved for him same as Prof Nicholas Attamah of Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities.
Prof Uche Ugwuanyi was unanimously elected, unopposed, as Dean, Faculty of Management Sciences.

Also elected as a sole candidate is Prof Umezurike Hughes Okafor of Faculty of Clinical Medicine as well as Dr Ozor Ignatius of Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences

Interestingly, the elections were unable to produce a female dean, this in contrast to at least three female deans that were elected during the 2022 deanship elections.

ESUT Monitor can authoritatively report that the elections of the new deans in 12 out of 13 Faculties in the university were peaceful and resulted generally accepted by all including those who lost their elections.

Speaking with ESUT Monitor on the conduct of the election at Faculty of Education, Prof Martins Anikwe who represented the Vice-Chancellor and superintended over the election said it was democracy in action.

Describing the Faculty of Education election as a tight race, the former Commissioner for Agriculture in Enugu State said the majority spoke which is the beauty of democracy.

“We have witnessed democracy here. The Dean Elect won with just two votes ahead of his closest opponent and that is the beauty of democracy. It was transparently conducted in an orderly manner and all the voters and candidates conducted themselves very well.

“To me, the only winner is the faculty. They should unite and move the faculty ahead. The time of election is over, it is now time to work. We are happy with the outcome of the election here, we will now go and write our report and submit to the management,” he said.

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On the 10-13 November 2023 the National Executive Council (NEC) of the Academic Staff Union (ASUU) lifted vacated the suspension on the Enugu State University of Science and Technology, ESUT branch following a resolution passed during the NEC meeting at Kaduna State University, Kaduna.

 This was made possible by the Chairperson of ASUU ESUT Prof. Chinedu Aguba who gave a written and oral presentation and submitted copies of apology letters, application for recall and evidence of regular payment of checkoff dues to National body as they are released by the administration.

He stated that ASUU National Officials came to ESUT without a prior notice to anyone and saw that the school was still active after the NEC meeting that was hosted in ESUT March 2020 and it was declared in that meeting that there is going to be National strike. ASUU ESUT violated and sabotaged the instruction, following their report to NEC, ASUU ESUT was suspended except the Chairperson. He also recalled the suspension of February 2014 under the leadership of Prof. Chris Nnadi for sabotaging the 2013 National Strike; the leadership was handed over to him November 2016 from being the vice Chairperson to the Acting Chairperson. Alongside his members they worked hard to bring to the end of the suspension and they succeeded on January 2017 at Bayero University in Kaduna NEC Meeting.

He also started that his heart bleeds whenever he remembers the ordeal few of them experienced just because they were enforcing the 2020 National Strike in ESUT. “I find it difficult to sleep each time I remember that some of my EXCO members stabbed me in my back by not only abandoning me as their leader during the struggle but also hobnobbing and licking the ass and feet of the former Acting Vice Chancellor of ESUT”.

He employed everyone to join hands to rebuild a formidable ASUU ESUT. He added that he has forgiven everyone that offended him and also seek the forgiveness of those he might have offended in the course of discharging his statutory duties in the past.

He expressed gratitude to the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Aloysius-Micheal Okolie for his in-depth knowledge of the union who served as a veritable catalyst for the sustenance of ASUU ESUT and also restoring the remittance of the monthly checkff dues to the union. 

ASUU ESUT is now fully back to being a member of the National Executive Council (NEC) and it is hoped that the new year would be an opportunity for the members to deepen their bond and solidify their brotherhood in the struggle for a better Nigerian university system

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The Academic Union of Universities, ASUU has called for implementation of the ₦1.2 million minimum salary for University Professors

Chairman, ASUU, Enugu State University of Science and Technology, ESUT, Professor Chinedu Aguba made the call in an interview with ESUT Monitor Newspaper in his office in Enugu.

The erudite scholar who spoke on the side-line of the exemption of universities, polytechnics and colleges of education from the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) payment platform, said although the removal was a good news but added that it is one solution out of several challenges facing the tertiary institutions.

Prof Aguba noted that the struggle for a better university system in the country is a continuous process despite the recent pronouncement by the federal government adding that the last time the lecturers’ salaries were reviewed was 13 years ago wondering how such amount would sustain them in the present day hipper inflation in the country.

“The struggle continues because IPPIS is just one out of various issues that ASUU tabled before the government that led us into that strike. The last time university lecturers’ salaries were reviewed upwardly in Nigeria was in 2009 till date. What was the value of dollar to Naira then compared to now?

“A professor who is the highest person in the university by rank in Nigeria goes home every month with something less than 500 dollars. It is incredible and ridiculous. It tells you why there are cases of bribery these days. Why a professor receives less than 500 dollars, something that is less than what a nanny receives in US in a month is what a professor is receiving today in Nigeria. It is as bad as that. Upward review of salary is very key.

“A Committee was formed under former President Mohammadu Buhari’s regime headed by erudite Professor Nimi Briggs.

“The report was not even a wonderful template but was manageable and said that minimum salary of a professor should be about N1.2 million. The government representatives were there, everybody agreed to that. Only for Dr Chris Ngige, (then minister of Labour) – his name will continue to be in the mud as far as ASUU’s snuggles in this country are concerned. Government representatives were in the agreement, all of a sudden, they did u-turn and said they will not sign it after several months of negotiations because the committee did not arrive at the figure just one day.

“Both Government and ASUU representatives were there, they did it for months and came out with figures. Up till today, ASUU is clamouring that the document, even though that inflation has affected it, but we are saying bring out that document and start implementation.” He said.

A Professor in Nigeria University, it’s gathered, currently earns between N450, 000 and N460, 000 salary every month after deductions. Sometimes, the figure could go down to N420, 000

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There are indications that the peaceful and seamless continuation of academic activities in Nigerian universities might be disrupted next year. This is because the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU has threatened to embark of strike next year unless the federal government ameliorates the conditions of service for their members.

This is the view of the Chairman ASUU, Enugu State University of Science and Technology, ESUT, Professor Chinedu Aguba.

Professor Aguba lamented that the monthly take home pay of their members is nothing to write home about and wondered why and how a university professor could be earning in the region of ₦450, 000 and ₦460, 000 salary while a Ph,D holder as an Assistant Lecturer, is earning ₦118, 000 as his monthly salary.

“A Professor in Nigeria university goes home with N450, 000 or N460, 000 every month after deductions. A Professor in Nigeria University, it is as bad as that and the world has to know that. At times it comes down to N420, 000.

“Why I continue to talk about a professor is because he is the highest ranked person in the university. If he/she is earning that, then imagine what lecturer 11 is taking. Lecturer 11 has a Ph.D but his salary is about N118, 000,” he stated.

He stressed that such situation makes the lecturers laughing objects in the sight of transport business people especially tricycle riders who earn double of it.

“A keke driver (tricycle rider) will laugh at us to hear this thing I am talking about because that keke man makes it double every month. A lecturer 11 with Ph.D certificate is being paid N118, 000.

“This one is the main thing and they are not talking to us; that is the worst. If care is not taking, next year we would be going on strike from the body language of ASUU.”

He explained why ASUU always resort to strike as the last option to press for their demands stress that the [political leaders are hard-hearted and would always neglect their dialogue

“They always say that ASUU goes on strike every now then, but I will always challenge them, tell us the next thing to do. Strike is always used as the last option. We will write series of memos and letters for a meeting but they (federal government) would not reply us. People will always tell us to change our style from strike to diplomacy.

“We have tried those things but they don’t work because we are dealing with hardened people here as our political leaders. They are not leaders, they are rulers. Before the election took off, (general election) we applied diplomacy, our national leaders knew that the new president of the country would be either Peter Obi, Atiku Abubakar or Ahmed Tinubu. These three key people were met by our national leaders behind the camera. Each of them promised that once he gets into office, that things would be done.

“This time, you call Gbajabiamila who is the Chief of Staff to (President) Tinubu, who was giving us his words that as far as he was concerned that ASUU matters would be dealt with. Now national President will call him and he will not pick his calls. You will not answer our calls, you will not respond to mails, what else does the society want us to do order than the last resort and that last resort is the strike. That is why it appears that ASUU is always going on strike.”

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The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU ESUT chapter has disclosed that the union received with mixed feelings the exemption of universities, polytechnics, colleges of education and other tertiary institutions from the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) payment platform describing the police as a n evil wind.

The Chairman, ASUU ESUT, Professor Chinedu Aguba stated this in an interview with ESUT Monitor in his office on Thursday. Prof Aguba who said that the ESUT Union is happy with the development, wondered why the federal government allowed the university to suffer loss of academic calendars and man power before realising it should do the right thing.

“The entire ASUU community received the news with mixed feelings; we are very jubilant that our struggle has not been in vain, we have been vindicated. At the same time, we feel that this is what the government ought to have done without the struggles – loss of academic calendar and also loss of man power.

“We are very happy that the entire intellectual community has come to realise that ASUU is an intellectual body that whatever they sit down seeing, many organisations may never see that while standing,” he said.

He described IPPIS as an evil wind that does no one good adding that the proposed system was aimed at crippling the universities and making Vice Chancellors beggars

“The components of the IPPIS is an evil wind that blows no one good in the university system. A situation whereby the university machinery is pigeonholed into a single line that before you recruit any lecturer or staff, do certain things in federal universities, you must go cap in hand to Abuja to beg the IPPIS staff.

“Some of them who are not even qualified to be clerks to the Vice Chancellors and Professors in the universities. We thank God that at last, justice has come.”

The federal government, it could be recalled, on Wednesday after its Federal Executive Council meeting presided over by the President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu announced the removal of the tertiary institutions from the IPPIS system.

The removal of the institutions from the IPPIS system has been one of the reasons the university lecturer had continued to embark on indefinite strikes in recent years including the nine-month strike in 2020 that brought academic activities in the universities to its knees. 

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