The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) the University of Jos Branch on Friday donated a 1000 capacity twin lecture theatres to the Management of the institution as part of its contribution in addressing the infrastructural needs of the second generation University.
The Union equally said the building cost of the project was N63.2 million, and the funds came from the deductions from its members’ monthly salaries over the years.
Chairperson of ASUU University of Jos Branch, Dr. Lazarus Maigoro, disclosed this during the handing over ceremony of the project to the school management held at the Naraguta campus where the project was constructed.
Maigoro said “one of the reasons why our Union is on strike today is due to lack of adequate infrastructures for quality teaching and learning.”
He stressed that “We decided to embark on this project also because the government has not lived up to its responsibility of funding education. The situation is so bad that it is lecturers in the University who are erroneously perceived as strike mongers and very recalcitrant people that are now using their salaries to build classrooms to assist the government and students while Nigerian public is keeping quiet,” he so lamented.
The Branch Chairperson added that the Union has been issuing scholarships to 5 indigent students every session in the University by paying their tuition fees in support of those who can’t foot the bills of their academics.
He added that they have so far produced 2000 bottles of hand sanitizers before now as well as 1000 awareness handbills and shared to organizations at no cost as part of its contributions in the fight against the novel coronavirus in Plateau State.
In his address, the National President of the Union, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, said ASUU University of Jos has raised the bar of trade Union patriotism in the country. “UniJos has today added a fresh perspective to addressing the infrastructural deficit on our campuses that would go down in history as unequalled.”
According to him, “We cannot pretend that we have all it takes to solve the problem. Our members are stressed and distressed.
“Our salary structure has stagnated for 11years. And the forceful migration to discredited integrated Payroll and Personal information system (IPPIS), has further distorted and devalued the take-home pay of our members.
“As such, what we take as salaries are fast losing in values and our capacity to embrace the path of philanthropy is rapidly diminishing”, he further lamented.
In his remarks, the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Prof. Sebastian Seddi Maimako, represented by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academics, Prof. Tanko Ishaya, said the survival development of public Universities in Nigeria has been the shared struggles of ASUU.
Maimako thanked the Union for coming to the aid of the institution, promising that the University will make good use of the structure.
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