Unpaid salaries: Abia varsity lecturers begin strike, abort exams

                                                   Governor T.A Orji of Abia state

Lecturers of the Abia State University (ABSU) have embarked on an indefinite strike to press home their demand for payment of outstanding salaries.

The Abia State government owes academic staff in the uni­versity four months salary.
It was gathered that sala­ries of ABSU lecturers have remained unpaid since June despite the state government’s promises to settle them.

Sources in the university revealed that, tired of the un­fulfilled promises by the state Governor, Chief Theodore Orji, the lecturers decided to embark on strike, vowing to return to the classroom when the outstanding salaries are paid.

The lecturers were said to have aborted the university’s se­mester exams scheduled to start on Monday to begin the strike.

It was gathered that students, had come to school prepared on Monday only to be told that the exams would no longer hold because lecturers had started an industrial action.

The lecturers, it was learnt, had advised the students to re­turn home, as they would only return to the classrooms when their salaries were fully paid.

When news men visited the university, students were seen loitering around, while only a few lecturers were in school.

Students, who spoke with our reporter expressed disap­pointment that the state gov­ernment failed to pay lectur­ers, prompting the strike.

A 200 level student, who gave his name as Obioma said: “It’s unfortunate that our exams have been stopped because lecturers are on strike, due to unpaid salaries. I am wondering why lecturers should not be paid when the state government recently in­creased tuition fees. Students have all paid their school fees, which is exorbitant. Govern­ment does not therefore, have any moral right not to pay salaries and therefore, deprive us of smooth academic pro­gramme.”

The student recalled that when the tuition was increased, the gov­ernment had said it was to ensure proper funding of the university, wondering: “What reasons would the authorities give for not paying salaries?”

Also, a 400 level student, Okonkwo, pleaded with the Gov­ernor Orji administration to settle the outstanding salaries, “so that academic activities will resume, for us to write our exams and graduate when our mates in other universities graduate.”

He stated that non-payment of salaries at ABSU had become “a recurring decimal, even when we were told that the increased school fees would help in funding the university.”