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From Okey Sampson, Umuahia
A claim by a lecturer at the Abia State University, Uturu (ABSU), that tricycle operators, popularly known in the local parlance as Keke riders, earning more than professors in the university has landed him in trouble.
Professor Nnamdi Nwaeze of the Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Management Sciences of the university, was alleged to have posted on his Facebook page that Keke riders earn more than some professors in the university. Professor Nwaeze was reported to have, through his Facebook page, alleged that some professors in the institution are earning less than N400,000 monthly.
Elaborating, Nwaeze reportedly claimed that the cumulative earnings of some Keke riders is higher than what professors receive in Abia State University. Piqued by the post, the management of ABSU, suspended the lecturer with immediate effect, saying the social media posts made by Professor Nwaeze were inimical to the interests of the institution. The statement suspending the professor disclosed that a panel has been set up to investigate the issue viewed by the institution’s authorities as embarrassing.
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Meanwhile, APC in Abia has reacted to the suspension of Professor Nwaeze, describing it as the height of intolerance by a government that claims to uphold the tenets of democracy.
The state Assistant Publicity Secretary of the party, Eric Ikwuagwu, in a statement titled, “Professor Nnamdi Nwaeze is the hero of Abia democracy”, said even in the darkest days of Nigeria history, many lecturers stood up against the military rule and authoritarianism.
Ikwuagwu said, “It is on record that the 1994 ASUU strike was majorly against military dictatorship for the annulment of June 12, 1993 presidential election.
”During the military regime, academics and other intellectuals openly participated in Nigeria’s broader pro-democracy struggles. ASUU was a major part of the resistance against military authoritarianism and even the maximum ruler, General Sani Abacha tolerated it”. The statement described as worrisome that, in 2026 democracy, an ABSU lecturer was suspended for making a revelation the management viewed as “uncomplimentary remarks” about the institution. ”The “’uncomplimentary remarks’ was simply speaking up against the continued use of 2009 salary structure to pay them in 2026, while using the 2025 deductions to slash their salaries. He also stated that professors like him are paid less than N400,000 monthly salary”. The statement added that if Professor Nwaeze was suspended for lying, nobody would have raised an eyebrow, but suspending him for merely speaking up and factually, too, smacked of callousness.
