The Head of Department (HOD) in the University of Calabar, Cross River State, has resorted to driving taxi following the lingering strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
ASUU embarked on strike on February 14, 2022, over the failure of the Federal Government to meet the union’s demands.
Since the industrial action began, several negotiations between the union and the government have ended in deadlock.
The senior lecturer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, however, said he had to resort to driving Bolt cab in order to feed his family and meet other obligations.
Speaking on the development, a former President of Post Graduate Students in UNICAL and a former lecturer, Dr Anthony Bissong Attah, said he was shocked when he saw the HOD driving taxi on Monday.
Attah, who said he called a Bolt cab to pick him to a destination, stated: “I had a very emotional experience today (Monday). I ordered a Bolt cab this morning to catch up with an engagement somewhere in Calabar.
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“When the cab driver arrived to pick me up, he remarked that I look like one of his colleagues in the university.
“I do know a lot of UNICAL lecturers. This Bolt driver mentioned quite a number of my friends and people I have interfaced in the university.
“I shudder to note that a university don can involuntarily become a cab driver. This is not to contemplate that it’s wrong for a lecturer to be a chauffeur. No, not at all.
“I’m however concerned that an avoidable circumstance has pushed these lecturers into a hurriedly contrived alternative source of livelihood.
“This is so frustrating and depressing. The question is, isn’t it necessary for civil/public servants to engage in multiple streams of income? That’s a discussion for another day.
“The gamut of this discourse is the need to lend a helping hand to all our friends in the academic world who are part of the ongoing university strike. They are passing through very unaccustomed economic crises,” the former lecturer said.
