Funmi Olaitan, Ibadan


Chairman, University of Ibadan chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Deji Omole, has raised alarm of untimely death of overworked Nigerian workers,  calling on the Federal Government to open-up recruitment of academic staff in federal institutions.

Omole in a release issued on Sunday, called for comprehensive medical check-up by various institutions to ascertain the health conditions of their staff, noting that in the struggle for survival, many lecturers who think they are well may have death threatening health conditions.

He lamented that the health conditions of members of the union are fast depreciating due to work overload occasioned by the failure of the Federal Government to employ more academics to cope with the number of students admitted, stating that while academic staff continue to work in the most dehumanised conditions, the Federal Government has refused to pay their earned academic allowances from 2011 to date .

He disclosed that public universities in the country are short of not less than 40,000 lecturers, noting that due to poor working environment, job overload and non—approval of leaves as at when due, the union this year  has lost some of its members to death across the nation.

Omole while apparently reacting to the death of a Professor of Exercise Physiology, Ademola Abass who died at the University of Ibadan, mourned that the late professor never showed any sign of any ailment but suspected he might have died untimely of stress-related death.

He said,  "Ademola Abass was an outstanding scholar of the university who  was always ready to assist the students and the university system.  The vacuum created by his sudden death will be very difficult to fill by the university"

The ASUU boss noted that due to work-related stress and the bad economic fortunes, lecturers hardly have time to attend to their health, creating health complications which ultimately lead to incapacitation and sometimes death.

 "The Federal Government is not only determined to kill the lecturers with stress but also determined to kill University of ibadan in particular.  This is being done by deliberately refusing to payroll newly recruited lecturers to replace our dead or retired  colleagues even when due processes were followed in the recruitment procedures", he stated.