…As Dr. Blessing Ijioma rips off staff to build war chest
The last has not been heard about the scheming of the sit tight provost of Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education, Owerri, Dr. Blessing Ijioma who would rather have the institution in crisis than quietly retire.
The latest trick in the bag is that staff of the institution now receive 90% or less of their salaries as against what it used to be.
Most of the staff who spoke on condition of anonymity, for fear of being hounded by security operatives, as has become the lot of most of the union leaders, lately, opined that it is glaring that the provost is using proceeds from the salary slash to fund her sit ambition. Dr. Ijioma who turns 65 on 2nd of August, 2017, is meant to have proceeded on terminal leave two months ago, but has employed every trick in the bag to remain in office.
A source in the bursary informed our reporter that the Federal Government usually gives 75% of the staff salaries as subvention while the management of the institution raises the remaining 25% from internally Generated Revenue to make up 100% of staff salaries but details of the last salaries alerts that came a couple of days ago indicate that staff only got 90% of their pay, and this is happening at the height of the provost’s insistence of continuing in office beyond all age requirements for service.
Keen observers have expressed dismay at how the provost is on the verge of destroying the good name she has built over the past 7 years on the saddle, just in a bid to hang on to the office.
Our source revealed that it cost the provost millions of Naira to get the Governing Council to exercise powers they didn’t have, by issuing the Provost a letter of “approval” to stay in office beyond the age of 65.
Again, our source wonders why the council is yet to call the Joint Action Committee (JAC), comprising the four unions in the institution, to a meeting, despite being mandated by the Nigerian Senate to to take that step in order to resolve the stand off between the Unions and the Management.
