The Nigerian government has initiated the process of paying salary arrears to lecturers employed in the departments of Basic Medical Sciences, Basic Clinical Sciences, and Medicine in specific federal universities, News About Nigeria reports.
However, it is important to note that lecturers who are members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) have been excluded from this payment.
The beneficiaries of this recent disbursement of funds are lecturers who are associated with the Nigerian Association of Medical and Dental Academics.
This organization is one of the two factions that have been authorized by the government to counterbalance the influence of ASUU.
Due to a strike initiated by ASUU in 2022, the government implemented a policy of “no-work-no-pay,” which resulted in the withholding of salaries for a duration of seven months for the lecturers.
ASUU lecturers have been trying to convince the government to give them their unpaid salaries, but they haven’t received their rightful compensation yet.
On the other hand, the Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria, which represents medical and consultant doctors, made a successful argument that medical schools were still operating during the strike.
Because of this, their members received their salaries.
A trusted source from Nnamdi Azikiwe University confirmed that medical lecturers there have begun receiving the salaries that were previously held back.
This development has caused confusion among other lecturers who are yet to be compensated.
The source mentioned, “While other lecturers have not received their salaries, we have been advised to remain calm.”
Likewise, a medical lecturer from the University of Maiduguri corroborated this information, stating, “The news is accurate. Medical lecturers who were actively engaged during the strike period have begun receiving their payments.”
Although not all medical lecturers have received their payments, the chairperson of ASUU at the Federal University of Technology, Minna, verified that medical lecturers at Nnamdi Azikiwe University have indeed been remunerated.
