Following the lingering crisis over workers’ salaries at the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) Ogbomoso, Oyo State, the State House of Assembly on Tuesday summoned the Vice-Chancellor of the institution, Professor Sulaiman Adeniyi Gbadegesin and the state Commissioner for Education, Professor Adeniyi Olowofela to appear before it.
The summon followed a motion of urgent public importance titled “Urgent need to avert another indefinite industrial action at Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso” moved by Honourable Olawumi Oladeji (Ogbomoso North).
Oladeji argued that “prior to the suspension of the strike action by the unions in the university, a MOU was signed with the management on behalf of the governing council but now the content and the spirit of the agreement has been breached.
“Accumulation of arrears of unpaid salaries still continued unsettled, staff of the university now endure hardship and various financial embarrassments due to non-payment of salaries I.e.7 1/2 months of arrears.
She declared that the staff unions in the university is planning to embark on an indefinite strike action “if urgent intervention is not taken by the two owner states to rescue the situation whereby students of the university would engage themselves in aimless wandering and criminal activities because of idle hands is the devils workshop”.
She then “urged the house to call on the technical committee to hasten up their assignment and submit their report without further delay.
The Speaker of the assembly, Hon. Michael Adeyemo then ordered the invitation of the Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology and LAUTECH VC to appear before the committee on Education, Science and Technology with a view of making clarifications on the actual indebtness of the two owner states and suggest possible means of getting out of the woods.
Adeyemo urged the Oyo and Osun state governments for posterity sake to take actions on payment of outstanding salaries of LAUTECH staff.
