Academic staff at the National Mathematical Centre (NMC) have protested their exclusion from the N50 billion Earned Academic Allowances (EAAs) recently approved by the Federal Government for university workers.
The protest, held at the NMC headquarters in Abuja, was led by members of the Congress of University Academics (CONUA), NMC chapter, who conveyed their grievances in a letter addressed to the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa.
The letter, signed by Comrade Awogbemi Adeyeye (Chairman) and Comrade Okorie Okike (Secretary), was made available to journalists in Abuja.
The union stated that, although the Federal Government had approved and released N50 billion in EAAs for distribution among academic and non-academic staff in Nigerian universities, NMC’s academic staff were entirely excluded from the disbursement.
The union urged the Minister to ensure that NMC academic staff receive their entitled allowances dating back to 2013. They also demanded the payment of outstanding benefits, including Field Trip Allowances, SIWES Allowances, Postgraduate Study Grants, and other due entitlements.
“Sir, we are fully aware that the current Minister of Education is a man of justice who carefully studies every case on its merit,” the letter read.
They called on the Minister to act on a memo from the National Salaries, Incomes & Wages Commission, which they said “confirmed without ambiguity that NMC academic staff are entitled to the EAAs based on the ASUU 2009 Agreement with the Federal Government.”
The union emphasised that the NMC, as an Inter-University Centre, should not be treated differently from other universities regarding academic allowances. They stressed that the Centre plays a critical national role in strengthening mathematics education across all levels of Nigeria’s educational system.
“One of the core responsibilities of the Centre is to train high-level personnel in mathematical sciences,” they noted, adding that this is achieved through Foundation Postgraduate Courses (FPCs) and Research-Oriented Courses (ROCs) designed for postgraduate students and lecturers from federal universities.
“The implication is that the Centre functions as a service provider to all Nigerian universities,” the union added.
They further argued that NMC academic staff should be paid hazard allowances due to their constant exposure to laboratory-related risks, noting that non-academic staff at the Centre already receive such allowances.
“We boldly state that academic staff at NMC make significant contributions to national development and should be treated on par with university lecturers,” they stated.
The letter concluded with an appeal: “Sir, we look forward to your timely intervention to permanently resolve this painful exclusion.”
