Bitterness in the midst of sweetness: The situation of UNICROSS staff

While most Cross Riverians, indigenes, residents and visitors are celebrating the "season of sweetness", UNICROSS staff are wallowing in misery as a result of unpaid salaries for four (4) months.

While it is uncertain why these workers have not been paid their wages, there are speculations that the governor of Cross River State has refused to release the monthly subvention of the University for the months of November and December, 2023.

The management of the University also claims that the monthly subvention is not even enough to pay salaries, the reason why it has not been able to pay arrears of salaries for April and May, 2022.

In the midst of these, staff of the University are struggling to put the University on the world map by training and producing graduates that are capable of competing with their contemporaries all over the world.

Recently, the University was ranked very high, high above every other University in Cross River State, including the federal government and private universities in the State.

One would ordinarily consider this feat, one that the State government should pride in and work hard to sustain. Unfortunately, the reverse is the case.

Recently, the State government gave out 10,000 naira monthly palliative to her workers but ruled out UNICROSS. Again, the government has paid salaries of all her workers for November and December, 2023 but has held unto the subvention of UNICROSS without a reason.

All efforts by the unions in the University to find out reasons why the subventions are withheld have failed and no one is willing to let the cat out of the bag.

One would wonder why the "sweet prince" has decided to be "so bitter" with UNICROSS.

in a season (of sweetness), when everyone is expected to show love to one another, staff of UNICROSS can not even feed their families.

Why punish us without a reason? Do we not deserve to know at least why we are suffering this fate?

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