Staff of the Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti(ABUAD) have renewed their commitments towards providing opportunities for high-quality university education.
The heads of Departments gave this pledge in their goodwill messages at the15th anniversary of the commencement of ABUAD’s academic activities at the fastest growing private Universities in Africa.
While appreciating and congratulating the founder ,Aare Afe Babalola ,they said their vision is to be a center of learning that provides excellent opportunities for students to acquire knowledge, skills, and competence.
In her speech , Vice Chancellor , Professor Smaranda Olarinde released the University’s performance reports for 1420 academic and non-teaching staff, covering 2022-2024 academic sessions under its structured system tagged: “The ABUAD Staff Assessment and Performance Evaluation Review (SAPER)”.
Olarinde said 40 Professors and 46 Readers were recommended for external assessment while 255 staff members received annual increment across colleges such as: Engineering, Law, Pharmacy, Sciences, Library, School of Medical Sciences, and MHS.
The VC also announced the promotion of 29 lecturers to senior lecturer positions, 12 lecturer (I), 6 lecturer (II) and 1 assistant lecturer (I).
According to her, 12 academic staff members either received promotions or salary increases at the discretion of the founder of the university, Aare Afe Babalola.
She noted that 968 members of the non-academic staff were also assessed based on career progression, framework and years of experience.
The VC also highlighted the university’s commitment to staff growth and wellbeing, citing the founder decision to increase the minimum wage of his staff to N77,000 – a 10% increase above the FG’s minimum wage of N70,000, to further bolster the academic performances of staff.
Professor Olarinde also emphasized the founder’s commitment to staff well-being, citing the payment of annual leave bonuses for 2024 and the provision of yuletide incentives to all staff members.
She added, “It is worthy of note that in September 2023, following significant economic shifts due to subsidy removal and currency unification, the Founder approved a 35% salary increase for all staff across all the University divisions.
“In November 2024, after the Federal Government announced a minimum wage of N70,000.00, the Founder made the decision to exceed this by adding an additional 10%, raising the minimum wage of ABUAD staff to N77,000.00 as against N70,000.00 minimum wage proposed by the Federal Government.
“A total of 41 dissatisfied academic staff submitted written appeals to the Chancellor requesting Promotion for a review of their assessment reviewed by the Assessment Committee.
“To cap it all up, the founder ensured payment of the annual leave bonus for 2024 and made available the annual Christmas gift to all staff members.
“This generous decision, following the earlier salary adjustment, demonstrates the Founder deep commitment to the wellbeing of every staff member of ABUAD”.
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