Members of the National Association of Academic Technologists, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife branch, on Wednesday, staged a peaceful protest over non-payment of their over five-month salary and arrears of allowances by the Federal Government.

The protesters, who converged on the campus of the university, also accused the Federal Government of reneging on the 2009 agreement it entered with them.

Armed with placards with various inscriptions such as “We Say No To Unfair Treatment”, “Broken Promise, Broken Trust, Respect Our 2009 Agreement”, “We Deserve Better”, “Pay Our Withheld Salaries”, they vowed not to back down until their entitlements were paid.

Briefing newsmen shortly after the protest, the OAU NAAT Chairman, Mr Matthew Oluwaniyi, represented by the Vice Chairman, Aminu Rotimi, said the salaries were withheld by the Federal Government after the members embarked on a five-and-a-half-month strike in 2022.

Oluwaniyi also said members of the union received only one month of the withheld salaries in October, noting that the Federal Government has failed to fulfil its promise.

He said, “We are here to show our grievances with the Federal Government on the way our union is being treated.

“In 2022, the university-based unions went on strike. Our union was on strike for five and half months, and the Federal Government withheld our salary for those months.

“Despite all pleas, meetings, and negotiations we had with the Federal Government, our withheld salaries have not been paid until now.

“Last week, we received an alert of what looks like the payment of one month of the withheld salaries and up till now, the Federal Government has not made any communication to us.

“The Federal Government is also owing us arrears of allowances and that is why we are coming out to let the people know that the Federal Government is not fair to us.”

He lamented that the government failed to implement the agreement to pay the union occupational hazard allowance.

The former secretary of the union, Dr Taoreed Adesiyan, lamented the shortage of workers in the university laboratories across the country.

“We also have a dearth of workers in our laboratories. All our laboratories are not being manned by a sufficient number of people.

“We are overworked, and our members are dropping dead. We’ve said several times that the Federal Government should employ more workers,” he said.

PUNCH