By Muhammad Muntazar
Feelers from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, have it that Scientists of the University working in special laboratories established for COVID-19 tests, may shut down all the laboratories, Friday, as a measure taking to compel the Kaduna state government to pay them their three months allowances.
Education Monitor reliably obtained that while the Scientists have been working tirelessly for the past three months under serious hazardous and life- threatening circumstances, following the signing of Memorandum of Understanding between the University and the Kaduna state government, the government has refused to fulfill it’s own side of the agreement.
The Scientists lament that it’s a pity that while their Colleagues in other parts of the world are being handsomely paid different kinds of allowances, we, in Kaduna State are being treated with disdain despite the quantum of risks that we have consciously subjected ourselves to, to save our fellow human beings from the COVID-19 disaster
Education Monitor has also reliably gathered that while the Kaduna state government has refused to pay the ABU Scientists, the El-Rufai government has been paying their counterparts in the employ of the state government.
One of the Scientists who spoke to Education Monitor exclusively said; “The KDSG exclusively signed an MoU with ABU on COVID-19 Testing. The KDSG promised to pay all of us involved in the testing, which started since April. The KDSG has not pay us a dime to date, despite processing well over 1000 samples, exposing ourselves to life threatening danger and despite assurances from the Commissioner of Health of the State two months ago that the payment is at the Ministry of Finance which she promised to ensure that we were paid, but up to now nothing has happened.”