UniMaid Lecturers Threaten To Withhold Students’ Results Over Half-Salary Payment

Lecturers at the University of Maiduguri (UniMaid) have threatened to withhold students’ final results following the Federal Government’s failure to pay them their eight months’ salaries.

Graduation Uncertain For UniMaid Final-Year Students

Dr Abubakar Saidu, Chairman of Unimaid’s branch of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) made the announcement on Tuesday, November 22.

According to him, the UniMaid lecturer will not submit examination results or release students’ final results until the government resolves the issue of pro-rata payment of salary and nonpayment of their 8 months’ salaries.

Saidu added that final-year students of the institution may not graduate this year over the government’s decision to withhold their salaries after the ASUU called off its strike.

He said, “They will also not submit the results of both the first and second semesters of the 2020/2021 academic session. There will be no computation of academic status by coordinators of parts 1-4, 5 or 6, as applicable.

“Current final-year students will not be graduated as departmental and faculty boards and the university Senate will never consider the results of the 2020/2021 session. Government said no work no pay; we say no pay no work.”

The ASUU chairman called on President Muhammadu Buhari to issue directives for the reversal of the ‘unacceptable’ pro-rata payment of salaries of university lecturers and the full payment of the eight months’ withheld salaries.

“Government’s decision on the payment of our salaries is not acceptable. We can’t be treated like daily paid workers or labourers; it is unacceptable,” Prof. Martha Tarfa of the university’s Faculty of Biological Sciences complained to newsmen.

“These decisions by the ASUU branch of our university is a bad omen to us students. It will be injurious to us,” Francis Okoye, a Law undergraduate of the university told Punch.

He complained, “Withholding results will drag us back in our educational career. Most of us have already lost a complete session.”

This comes barely one month after the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) suspended the eight-month strike which it embarked on February 14th this year.