Aggrieved workers of the Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology, Okitipupa, OAUSTECH, Ondo state, who are protesting alleged non-payment of N35,000 wage award have disrupted activities of the institution’s second convocation ceremony.
The workers under the Joint Action Committee of all Tertiary Institutions, accused the Ondo State Government of non payment of the N35, 000 wage award agreed with organized labour to cushion the economic hardship of removal of petrol subsidy by the Federal Government of Nigeria
The workers were seen displaying placards with various inscriptions “all we are saying, pay us wage award, We deserve N35,000 wage award, pay us,’ ‘ Wage award is our right don’t deny us ,’ ‘ We patronize the same market, pay us N35,000 wage award,’ among others
Recall that the workers of all institutions owned by the state government had embarked on indefinite strike since last week.
Chairman of JAC, of the institution , Comrade Dayo Temola who was speaking on the protesting workers
expressed displeasure over the alleged inability of the government to pay the wage award and some other allowances.
” Our joint demand is that they should pay us our N35, 000 wage award that had been paid to all categories of workers in the state. We are also demanding implementation of 2019 minimum wage,"Temola said,
” We are in 2024, yet we have not got 2019 minimum wage, it is shameful and we patronize the same market with other workers who have been receiving .
” Everybody knows what is currently going on in the country even our current salaries can’t take us to the office again for a month.
” We also demand that the monthly subvention of the school should be increased by 100 percent. The government promised us N91million on paper and has been giving us N63milliion.
“It is far low to the wage bills of the university as we speak the university is owning billions of naira from cooperatives and some other allowances. That is our agitation.”
Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, has however invited the protesting workers to Akure, the state capital, for dialogue.
Meanwhile, governor Aiyedatiwa, has approval grant of N1.2bn grant to the institution for the completion of some of it’s abandoned projects.
The governor also announced automatic employment for the best-graduating student at the university, Miss Adedayo Janet.
Aiyedatiwa said, “I am specially honoured to address this second Convocation. This marks my historic and inaugural attendance as the Visitor to the university, since my assumption of office in the last 69 days.
“I have no doubt that your upcoming School of Maritime Transport and Logistics at Ugbonla which is at 60percent completion by OSOPADEC (Ondo State Oil-producing Areas Development Commission) is very timely and will be of immense advantage to the Ondo State Deep Seaport Project and the development of Blue Economy in the country at large.”
The approval of the N1.2bn capital grant in the 2024 budget to OAUSTECH, Aiyedatiwa said was for speedy completion of abandoned buildings of the School of Science and others.
The governor promised that the institution’s monthly subvention of N91m would also be given due consideration to enhance the operations of the school.
In his address, the Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Temi Ologunorisa, said that a total of 1,202 were conferred with first-degree in the 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 academic sessions of the university.
“Overall, we are graduating 1,202 students consisting of 62 students in first class, 527 students in second class upper division, 552 students in second class lower division and 61 students third class division.”
Ologunorisa said that the “university had moved from a teaching university to a research institution, having achieved a lot in the area of research.
The Vice Chancellor recalled how some of the university staff won N50 million and N250million in different research programmes at different times in the past.
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