Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) members at the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) on Tuesday staged a protest over what they described as the “shameful” N150,000 retirement benefit being paid to professors and other academic staff under the current contributory pension scheme.
The protest, which lasted for about an hour on the institution’s campus, drew scores of lecturers who decried the government’s treatment of intellectuals despite their decades of service to the country.
Addressing the protesters, Chairman of UNIMAID ASUU, Dr. Abubakar Mshelia, said it was an insult that professors who had spent over 40 years in classrooms were made to retire on a meagre N150,000 monthly pension in a country battling inflation of more than 21 percent.
“This is not just a labour issue; it is a national disgrace,” Mshelia declared. “A country that treats its intellectuals with such disregard cannot expect meaningful progress.
“Our members are owed salary arrears of between 25 and 35 percent wage reward, while promotion arrears have remained unpaid in many universities for over four years.”
The union leader also condemned the Federal Government for approving nine new private universities despite previously announcing a moratorium on the establishment of new institutions.
He described the move as “hypocrisy” driven by vested interests, insisting that ASUU would not support further licensing of universities when existing ones remain underfunded and understaffed.
Mshelia further faulted the government’s refusal to sign the renegotiated 2009 agreement with ASUU, its failure to remit third-party deductions, and its controversial Tertiary Institutions Staff Support Loan Scheme, which he said the union had outrightly rejected.
The ASUU branch also strongly opposed the renaming of UNIMAID after the late President Muhammadu Buhari, describing the move as provocative and undemocratic.
“The decision to rename the University of Maiduguri as Muhammadu Buhari University is a blatant violation of the principle of university autonomy and a grave affront to academic freedom, institutional integrity, and democratic governance,” Mshelia said.
He warned that if the Federal Government continues to ignore the plight of university lecturers, industrial action would be inevitable.
“Strikes are never our first choice, but our last resort when all avenues of negotiation are exhausted. If the government continues on this path, responsibility will rest squarely on its shoulders,” he added.
The protest comes amid mounting frustration in the education sector, where unresolved disputes between the government and lecturers have repeatedly disrupted academic calendars across Nigeria.
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