ESUT sacks 153 lecturers

Enugu State University of Technology, ESUT, Enugu, has sacked 153 lecturers from its employment.

No official reasons were given for the sacking of the lecturers, but sources told Vanguard that the dismissal, which also affected a professor and a reader, cut across various departments in the institution.

One of the sack letters signed by the Registrar of the university, Leonard Khama and dated October 23, 2015, stated: “I am directed to inform you and you are hereby informed that the university is presently not positioned to employ you.

“You should, therefore, hand over any university property in your possession to the Head of Department. If, however, your services are required in the future by the university, you will be informed accordingly.”

Briefing newsmen in Enugu, yesterday, on the development, some of the affected lecturers, who spoke under the aegis of the ‘Disengaged Members of Staff of ESUT,’ noted their ugly experiences, saying that it was unjustifiable for the university to employ them in a bid to get accreditation from the National Universities Commission, NUC, only to dismiss them after seven months without pay.

“In spite of the huge debts we have incurred in the process of living up to our responsibilities and keeping our jobs, no salary was paid to any of us between February and this month when we were employed,” they said.

According to the lecturers, they were employed because of the consistent refusal of the NUC to accredit most courses in ESUT.

“The fruit of our employment have been felt in the vacuum we filled in classes and other academic exercises, but most evidently, we were used to get full NUC accreditation for many departments in the university,” they added.

-Vanguard