The management of Sa’adu Zungur University in Bauchi State has denied the exit of 30 PhD holders from the university.
This was contained in a press release issued on Sunday by the university’s Public Relations Officer, Auwal Hassan.
He said the claim was misleading, inaccurate, and unfounded, saying that SAZU did not receive any resignation letters from PhD staff citing poor salary.
Auwal said, “The university has not received any resignation letter from the purported 30 PhD holders or any significant number of academic staff.
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“Our record shows that only six PhDs have exited or are away from the
university in the past 1 year and 10 months of the tenure of this
administration, citing various personal reasons not related to salary concerns.”
He disclosed statistics of a number of
academic staff who are away on sabbatical leave, leave of absence, or secondment, and those who, for one disciplinary reason, are dismissed from the University.
The PRO also cited that there are staff that resigned for personal reasons, not related to poor pay.
He noted that SAZU has a total number of 397 academic staff with “18 Professors, 9 Readers, 57 Senior Lecturers, 113 Lecturer I, 47 Lecturer II, 76 Assistant Lecturers, 77 Graduate Assistants, 3.”
He added, “The university, through the support of the Bauchi state governor Bala Mohammed, has consistently prioritized the welfare and development of its staff, including academic staff, and has implemented various initiatives to enhance their working conditions.
“This involves timely salary payment and other financial benefits.”
Auwal Hassan insisted that under the leadership of the current administration, since December 2022, the university has timely promoted numerous academic staff with full payment of promotion arrears where applicable.
Punch Online reports that the Academic Staff Union of Universities disclosed that not less than 30 PhD holders of its members have resigned from SAZU.
The Zonal Coordinator of ASUU Bauchi Zone, Namo Timothy, disclosed this at a press conference at the Yuli Campus of the university on Friday.
Timothy said that the state government-owned varsity is in the shadow of death due to poor handling of affairs of the university and the well-being of its members.
While calling on the Bauchi government to declare a state of emergency on the university to reverse trends of poor handling of affairs over the years, the ASUU Coordinator explained that “Until and unless this is done, the ASUU branch zone can no longer guarantee industrial harmony between members of the ASUU SAZU branch and the university administration.
“The zone has engaged key stakeholders and exchanged several correspondences in an attempt to resolve these issues to no avail.”
He lamented that ASUU members at SAZU do not have a pension or death benefit scheme as obtained in a structured public service regulation across the country.
According to him, the SAZU administration owed its members Earned Academic Allowance and Excess Work Load Allowance to the tune of over 650 million naira from 2012 to date.
Timothy also decried how a HND graduate was appointed Bursar of the university contrary to the provision of service of the university, which spelt that only candidates with a minimum of first degree would be considered for appointment as Bursar.
“This has not only dampened the morale of our members in the university but forced many, including 30 trained PhD holders, to resign and migrate to other institutions where their future is secured,” he added.
