A wave of anger swept through Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), Awka, as about 1,000 lecturers staged a protest over the non-payment of their salaries for the past five years. The unpaid academics, some of whom have been working since 2019 without any remuneration, lamented that at least 12 of their colleagues have died while waiting for their wages.
Armed with placards bearing inscriptions such as “Pay Our Salaries” and “Five Years Without Pay, Enough is Enough”, the lecturers decried the hardship inflicted upon them and their families, blaming both the university management and the Federal Government for their plight.
A lecturer, Mr. Ibezim Echezona, spoke emotionally about their worsening condition, revealing that the most recent death among his colleagues occurred just weeks ago. “We buried the last one this year. We saw her in December, and now she is no more. This is what we are facing because of unpaid salaries. Five to six years without pay is inhumane,” he said.
The affected staff claim that initial delays were blamed on the now-defunct Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS). However, even after the university’s Governing Council reportedly approved their payments, nothing changed.
Mr. Chukwuebuka Emmanuel, a visually impaired lecturer at the Centre for Disabilities and Special Needs Research, shared his painful experience. “Since my employment in 2019, I have not received a single salary. I have been working diligently, yet I struggle to feed my family and pay rent. What do I tell my children when they ask for school fees?” he lamented.
The lecturers are now demanding clarity on who is withholding their payments—the university, the Ministry of Education, or the Federal Government. They insist that urgent action is needed to prevent further deaths and to alleviate the suffering of hundreds of unpaid academics.
