By Cletus Asuquo
Workers of the University of Cross River State (UNICROSS) have staged a peaceful protest at the office of the State Accountant-General in Calabar, demanding the immediate payment of pension arrears owed their retired colleagues.
The demonstrators, under the umbrella of the Joint Action Committee (JAC) comprising the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU), and the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT), lamented the continued neglect of retirees who served the institution diligently.
The protest, which took place yesterday saw dozens of non-teaching staff carrying placards and chanting solidarity songs as they marched to the Accountant-Generalโs office to press home their demands.
Speaking on behalf of the protesters, Comrade Bassey Ekeh, Chairman of NASU and Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in Cross River State, said the unions were forced to take to the streets after several appeals to government authorities yielded no result.
โOur grievance is simple: a proper system exists to compute, audit, and pay pensions, yet payments have not been made since June this year,โ Ekeh said. โWe can no longer keep quiet while our retired colleagues suffer. Many of them are living in abject poverty, and some have died without receiving their entitlements.โ
The protesting workers decried what they described as โadministrative bottlenecksโ in the office of the Accountant-General, insisting that the delay in securing the governorโs approval for payment was unnecessary.
โWe are not begging for favour; we are demanding our rights,โ Ekeh stressed. โThe government funds the university, and it has a moral and statutory responsibility to ensure retirees are paid their pensions and gratuities.โ
The union leaders called on Governor Bassey Otu to urgently intervene and direct the immediate release of pension funds to ease the hardship facing the affected retirees.
The workers also warned that if the issue remains unresolved, they would escalate their agitation to the national level and possibly shut down administrative activities within the university.
