ABIA UNIVERSITY REINSTATES SUSPENDED PROFESSOR FOLLOWING ASUU INTERVENTION

Abia State University, Uturu, has provisionally lifted the suspension imposed on Professor Nnamdi Nwaeze of the Department of Economics following pressure from the university’s chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities. The decision, communicated to the lecturer on September 3, comes after the union made his recall a key condition for resolving its dispute with the institution.

The university conveyed the decision through a letter signed by its Acting Registrar, Dr Joy Nwankwo. According to the letter, Nwaeze’s suspension was lifted with immediate effect after management received a written appeal from the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Abia State University chapter.

However, the university made it clear that the decision does not bring the matter to a complete end. Management stated that the lifting of the suspension was made without prejudice to the investigative panel already constituted to examine issues concerning the professor. The final outcome will therefore depend on the report of the panel, which is still being awaited.

Nwaeze was initially suspended indefinitely after using a post on Facebook to raise concerns about conditions affecting lecturers at the university. Among the issues highlighted were salary-related challenges and outstanding payments owed to some members of staff. His suspension subsequently became a major point of disagreement between the university management and ASUU-ABSU.

The union had maintained that the suspension should be reversed and argued that the disciplinary action against Nwaeze should have followed the procedures established by the university. ASUU-ABSU chairman, Professor Chidi Mba, previously said the union considered the suspension unacceptable and would not allow the matter to be ignored.

The controversy also became connected to the industrial dispute involving lecturers at the university. ASUU-ABSU had embarked on industrial action over concerns surrounding staff welfare and outstanding entitlements, with the suspended professor's reinstatement eventually becoming one of the conditions attached to resolving the dispute. The union later suspended the strike while giving management a deadline to recall Nwaeze.

The Abia State Government had earlier distanced itself from the suspension, describing the disciplinary action as an internal matter involving the university. Governor Alex Otti, however, subsequently acknowledged broader concerns raised by lecturers and apologised for what he described as an avoidable strike, saying bureaucratic delays had contributed to the failure to implement measures approved by his administration.

Confirming the latest development, the ASUU-ABSU chairman said the university had indeed lifted Nwaeze’s suspension but declined to discuss the details of the decision. Mba said the union would continue to handle the matter through its administrative processes.

The lifting of the suspension is expected to ease one of the major points of tension between the university management and the lecturers' union. However, the unresolved investigative process means that the university's final position on the matter could still depend on the findings and recommendations of the panel.

For now, the development represents a significant step towards resolving the dispute, with attention likely to shift to the outstanding welfare and salary issues that contributed to the wider disagreement between ASUU-ABSU and the university authorities.