The Chairman of the Governing Council of Kwara State University, Malete, Professor Abdulganiyu Ambali, OON, has announced the approval of the payment of the new minimum wage of seventy thousand Naira to staff of the University from December 2024, as a measure to encourage industrial harmony and boost the commitment of staff to the vision of the institution.
Professor Ambali made the declaration while receiving the executives of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Ibadan Zone, at the Council Chamber of the institution’s Business School in Ilorin on Thursday, November 28, 2024.
The Governing Council Chairman who noted that the University was in tune with the philosophy of ASUU which encouraged prioritizing conducive workplace and workers’ welfare added that the Council of the institution would continue to strive to motivate staff to continue to give their best to the University.
Professor Ambali added that other efforts put in place to ensure staff welfare included consequential adjustment to salaries, the one hundred thousand Naira (#100,000) school fees rebate for biological children of staff schooling in the university, the fifty thousand Naira (#50,000) monthly stipend for staff with disability, and subsidized transportation scheme to ease staff movement from Ilorin to Malete and back.
He added that the Council of the University was in dialogue with the State Government on the concerns of the Union in the University regarding the payment of Earned Academic Allowance (EAA) to the members of the Union.
Professor Ambali commended the ASUU leadership for their style of exploring non-combative means to address their members’ concerns, noting that the agitations of the Union led to the creation of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) which is now the major source of infrastructural and training support to institutions in Nigeria.
Earlier, the Zonal Coordinator of the Ibadan Zone of the Academic Staff Union of Universities ASUU, Comrade Oyegoke Oyebamiji stressed the need for more funding of universities as the only way to ensure that institutions run effectively to address societal needs.
While appealing to the State Government to heed the calls of the Union for the reinstatement of subvention to the University and the payment of Earned Academic Allowance (EAA) to staff, Comrade Oyebamiji who was in the company of other executive members from the Ibadan Zone, commended the quality of administration and understanding between staff and management of Kwara State University, which had prevented local action in the institution.
