The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has revealed that 84 lecturers passed away between May and August 2024, largely due to economic hardship and unpaid salaries. ASUU President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, shared this tragic information during an interview on Channels Television’s program “Inside Sources,” hosted by Laolu Akande.
Prof. Osodeke explained that the lecturers’ deaths were a result of the severe financial struggles they faced, compounded by the government’s withholding of salaries and increased living costs due to policies like fuel and electricity price hikes. He criticized the Federal Government’s “no-work, no-pay” policy, which withholds salaries during strike actions, exacerbating the already dire conditions for university staff.
“From May to August 2024, we lost 84 of our members due to the harsh economic conditions. Despite the ongoing crisis, the government continues to withhold salaries,” Osodeke said. He called for better funding and improved compensation for lecturers, stating that his own salary, after 15 years as a professor, was only N420,000 per month, which he highlighted as insufficient for Nigerian lecturers to remain globally competitive.
ASUU recently issued a 14-day ultimatum to the Federal Government, demanding the resolution of issues including the renegotiation of the 2009 FGN/ASUU Agreement and the release of withheld salaries from the 2022 industrial action.
