Over 20 UNIJOS Lecturers Died Of Work-Related Stress, VC Says

Vice Chancellor of the University of Jos (UNIJOS), Plateau State, Prof Tanko Ishaya has stated that over 20 lecturers in the institution have died due to severe stress from shortage of manpower.

The vice chancellor, in a briefing in Jos, as part of activities marking his two years in office, stated that apart from deaths, the institution has also lost many of its lecturers through retirement and the ‘Japa’ syndrome that has made many of them leaving the country for greener pastures.

“For well over five years now, we have not been able to carry out recruitment exercises to fill vacant positions. We have lost many of our members of staff through retirements, Japa syndrome and deaths. Some of these positions require that we recruit to avoid any gaps,” he said.

He lamented that the lack of budgetary allocation for recruitment to replace these lecturers has worsened the situation in the school.

Ishaya added that the absence of a Governing Council for the university is hampering the smooth running of the school.

He noted that the lack of finance has also affected the running of the school, explaining that the university budgets N13m monthly, but spends close to N100m with electricity gulping close to N30m in a month.

The VC noted that apart from the challenges he had mentioned, the school is facing many other issues that have been left unattended to and which required urgent intervention.