No Salary, No Examination, Ondo Poly Lecturers Insist

By Ayodele Oni

After waiting for 13 months, without any possible hope of paying their salaries, lecturers at the Ondo State owned Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, (RUGIPO) have resolved not to set questions or conduct Examinations for the students.

The lecturers under the aegis of Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) have resolved to frustrate the first semester examination of the institution which starts on Tuesday, June 13.

This was contained in a communiqué signed by the Union’s Chairman, Ade Arikawe and Secretary, Comrade Fapetu Damilola at the end of the congress held on Thursday 8th June, 2023.

The union said members  unanimously agreed to withdraw the services at the end of their Congress.

“We want the payment in full of all outstanding (13 Months) salary arrears owned the staff of the institution.

“The Congress wish to strongly emphasize that the decision above is binding on all the financial members of the union (ASUP).

According to Arikawe, the Union, before arriving at the decision, observed that the hardship or challenges of the current price of fuel on their members and attendance to their official duties is making it extremely difficult.

The ASUP Chairman described as pathetic the suffering of his members as a result of backlog of unpaid salaries, urging the State Government to assist the institution’s authorities to clear the salary arrears like the state and local government workers who are not being owed salaries again.

Arikawe lamented that the removal of fuel subsidy had further compounded his members’ untold hardship, insisting that the lecturers would not participate in the conduct of the exams until their demands on unpaid salaries were met by the management.