Emmanuel revealed this during an interactive media programme titled; “The Governor Speaks’’, in Uyo, the state capital on Saturday.
He therefore queried the rationale for the ongoing strike action by the lecturers. Newspecng had reported that the AKSU began their strike on April 17.
“I give Akwa Ibom State University N327 million every month as grant. Also, going by the figures I have, lecturers in AKSU receive the highest salaries anywhere in the country.
“For sustainability, I decided that we align with the National Universities Commission’s (NUC) salary scale applicable everywhere in the country, that is the crux of the disagreement,’’ Emmanuel said. He queried the rationale behind the continuous strike action by the institution, in spite of the regular funding it was getting from the state government. The governor’s disclosure was coming on the heels of the recent submission of a report by the visitation panel set up about a year ago to look into the problems bedeviling the varsity. He claimed that from the figures of N327 million, lecturers in the AKSU were among the highest paid university teachers in Nigeria.
Emmanuel, however, was optimistic that the issues will be resolved so as to have the students back in school.
“I am optimistic these issues will be resolved, I have set up a panel of enquiry to that effect,” the governor said.
He assured that recommendations from the visitation panel would be implemented by the state government in order to allow for smooth academic activities. Emmanuel added that his administration had spent huge resources in funding the tertiary system of education in the state. “We are spending huge amount of money in providing infrastructure in AKSU. “Look at the Obio Akpa campus, when we came in, we had to put in money, and today, if you go there, you will see the difference. “Even the main campus, the internal roads, right from the gate,’’ he said. He chided the management of the institution for not working toward being self-sufficient and sustainable.
