The UNICAL chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has protested the unpaid local entitlements spanning over six years. The protest was led by the Chairman of ASUU, UNICAL branch, Dr John Edor.

The protesters started from the main gate of the university and later proceeded to the administrative block but there was no university official to receive them.

The lecturers were seeing carrying placards such as ‘Our members dying, save our lives’, ‘Pay our promotion arrears,’ ‘pay our entitlements,’ and ‘Stop selective implementation of promotion’ among others.

According to the Chairman, the lecturers have been working but their entitlements have not been paid for a number of years now.

“Such entitlements include the teaching of GSS Courses, Graduate Thesis Supervision Allowance, CES Courses, Sandwich programmes, Pre-degree and promotion arrears. Some of our members had been employed and they commenced payment of their salaries but a backlog of their salaries is left unpaid and that is what we call salary arrears.

“Even if the federal government has refused to pay our salaries what we have earned which is not one, two, or three but some are running into five, six years should be immediately paid to us.

“We have been asking for our entitlements for long but the COVID-19 pandemic has compounded our vagaries and vicissitudes.

“The lockdown has made it impossible for us to go and source for other legitimate means of livelihood to feed our families.”

He added that the protest is only the beginning and that if nothing is done the lecturers will commence ‘Operation Occupy UNICAL’.