The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has criticised the Federal Government’s decision to introduce a loan facility for tertiary institution workers, insisting that what lecturers need is an upward review of their salaries to match Nigeria’s current economic realities.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Nigerian Tribune on Thursday, ASUU President, Professor Christopher Piwuna, described the government’s new Tertiary Institution Staff Support Fund (TISSF) — which offers up to N10 million to eligible academic and non-academic staff, as a distraction from the core issue of poor remuneration.
According to the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, the loan will be capped at 33.3 per cent of a beneficiary’s gross annual salary and is aimed at improving welfare, financial stability, and professional development.
But Piwuna argued that loan disbursement schemes were not new in universities and would only worsen the financial burden on staff.
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“Such loans won’t be able to address the needs of our members; rather, they will add to our troubles because the country’s economy is already depressed. What academics are asking for is better pay,” he said.
The ASUU president also renewed calls for the Federal Government to release the union’s withheld three-and-a-half months’ salaries from 2022, stressing that the payment is for work already done and not a favour. While acknowledging that President Bola Tinubu’s administration had previously paid part of the arrears, he urged the government to settle the outstanding balance without delay.
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