Prof. Kabiru Bala, Vice-Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University, ABU, Zaria, has appealed to unions and other key stakeholders in the sector to push for the full implementation of retirement benefits for Professors.
The vice-chancellor made the appeal during an inaugural lecture series Number 04/24.
The lecture was titled ‘The political benefits of public employee benefits in Nigeria: The proletarianization of the elite’.
Mr Bala said, ‘There are legal provisions that say a professor who served for 20 years will retire with full salary and other benefits that have not been implemented and the law is there.
“I don’t know whether our unions are aware of this problem, because it has not been implemented.’’
He added that there were many colleagues in the university who were not enjoying these benefits; saying, ”there is a need for the unions and stakeholders to do something about this.”
Mr Bala congratulated Prof. Isa Abbas and the Faculty of Social Sciences for the lectures.
However, Prof. Nasiru Musa-Yauri, Vice-Chancellor, Al-Qalam University Katsina, told NAN that initially, any lecturer that retired at the rank of Professor went with his full salary regardless of the time he attained the rank.
He added that the situation was reviewed at one of the negotiations between ASUU and the Federal Government during President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration.
Mr Musa-Yauri, who was also a former union leader at the Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto said that under the reviewed agreement, it became 10 years on the rank before a professor enjoyed such privilege.
Earlier, the Presenter, Mr Abbas, said the result of his investigation of his study provided insight into the relationship between the state and economy vis-à-vis politics and economy of employee benefits.
Mr Abbas said the cases of violence, insurgency and terrorism were precipitated by the government and institutional failure to provide employee services to workers who render such services.
The rise in antisocial vices, according to him, was as a result of the government’s failure to provide benefits to the workers, saying that the government could do so.
“Public employees are frustrated due to the lack of adequate benefits and incentives for the services rendered/
“This lack of adequate benefits and incentives makes most of the middle class elites in the society to be downgraded to a level of beggars for salaries and so on,’’ he said.
Mr Abbas explained that the middle class elites were in the category of the intellectuals, professionals and industrialists who also had means of production and employment but were reduced to beggars for salaries.
The don added it has transcended down in the corridor to disrupt effective service delivery across several sectors.
He, therefore, urged the government to be up and doing in ensuring institutions were stabilized and provide adequate benefits to those who deliver services to the society.
NAN
