Prof. Yohanna Izam, the Vice-Chancellor, Plateau State University, Bokkos, has said that the State Government has released N100 million for the payment of arrears of the Earned Allowances for staff of the institution.
Izam disclosed this in a press conference on Thursday in Bokkos, adding that the funds released had addressed some part of the lingering demands of the university unions.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that members of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities (SSANU) of the institution had embarked on indefinite strike to press home their demands.
Non-payment of earned allowances for many sessions were part of the main issues that necessitated the internal strike action by the unions.
But the vice-chancellor explained that the funds released was disbursed among the unions, adding that there was an end in sight for the unions to call off the strike when the national body of ASUU resumes work.
“Non-payment of arrears of earned allowance is one of the key demands that led to the strike action by SSANU and ASUU of this institution.
“The state government has graciously released N100 million to address that aspect of their demands.
“The money is not enough settle all the arrears; we need about N350 million to do that.
“So we sat with the two unions to decide the sharing formula and members of ASUU got three sessions and SSANU had two.
“We were already reaching an agreement to end our internal strike when the national body of ASUU declared the ongoing warning strike.
“We believe that before the end of this one month warning strike, we must have concluded our negotiation and academic activities will fully resume in the university, “he said
The VC added that government and management of the institution had started addressing some of the other demands of the unions so as to avert future strike actions that would truncate its university’s academic calendars.
Izam thanked the state government for supporting the institution’s drive towards a better university education in the state.
He appealed to the unions to consider the commitment already shown by government and call off the internal strike action.
He called on the unions and stakeholders in the state to support the management of the institution for growth of the university.(NAN)
