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 letter 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.
“Our record shows that only six PhD, 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.
Auwal revealed that the university records some absence of staff, including dismissal of “six persons, based on abscondment or disciplinary grounds, two sabbatical leave, two secondments, one leave of absence.”
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.
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.
The Coordinator called on the Bauchi government and the university administration to put in place a comprehensive exit policy covering pension and death benefits for staff.
