Nigeria Content Online

Three lecturers in the University of
Calabar have lost their lives in the last three months and the Academic
Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) of the institution has blamed the
unfortunate development on hunger, starvation, and poverty.

The chairman of ASUU, James Okpiliya,
said the hardship facing academic and non-academic staff of the
university was such that most staff can ill afford three square meals,
let alone foot medical bills whenever knocked down by illness.

Speaking at the commendation service of
a one-time chairman of Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Cross River
State chapter, Victor Onoyom Ita, Mr. Okpiliya said there was so much
suffering in the academia that staff were dying in droves, and called
for payment of better wages.

“Our members are going into extinction.
How do we replace them in a situation of hunger, starvation, poverty,
oblivion? We are dying everyday because of poor condition of service,”
he said.

He revealed that despite the fact that
the union has drawn the attention of the federal government to the
deplorable teaching and learning conditions and the alleged inhuman
environment which its members were subjected to, “surprisingly, they
are calling us names such as a group of self seekers, rascals, among
others”.

According to him, ASUU has been on the
vanguard of repositioning the Nigerian university system for improved
ranking among the universities in the world, but “the union will
continue to carry on the struggle for the survival of the university
system.”

The union leader said the struggle will
continue to bring about improvement in the condition of service,
increased salaries, funding of the universities with all the necessary
facilities that will make teaching by lecturers and learning by the
students conducive, as well as the issue of university autonomy.

Great loss

In his tribute, the vice chancellor of
the university, James Ekpoke, said the death of Mr. Onoyom-Ita was not
only a rude shock to him and the university community, but also a great
loss to the institution, the state, and nation at large because of his
numerous contributions to nation building.

“The students will miss him, and he
will be remembered not only for innumerable contributions to knowledge,
but also for his sense of humour, for which he was well known. He was a
jolly good fellow and an elder with a difference and a man of the
people,” the vice chancellor added.

The leader of Cross River State
community, University of Calabar, Patrick Egaga, of the Department of
Political Science, in his farewell message, said though death is a
compulsory appointment to be kept by all mortals, that of Mr.
Onoyom-Ita was another death too many, as “within a period of three
months, three of our members – Akomaye Oko, Bernard F.B. Oko and now
Onoyom-Ita – have been buried.”

He described the death as devastating
to the university community and the state, noting that the
commendation/funeral ceremony was to celebrate the deceased’s
achievements.

The state chairman of the NMA, Ofem
Enang, said the vacuum created by the death of their late colleague
will be difficult to fill, considering that the late Onoyom-Ita was the
chief consultant ear, nose, and throat of the University of Calabar
Teaching Hospital.