AUN lays off 400 staff members!
The governing council of the American University of Nigeria, Yola, have laid off no fewer than 400 members of its staff.
The university, which was founded by the former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, is a development-oriented university.
Reacting to the council’s decision, the university’s Public Relations Officer, Abba Tahir, said,
“For many years, we have staff population that is far higher than student numbers. There’s no institution in the world where the number of administrative staff is higher than the number of students.
“The student population is over a thousand and the staff population is far higher.
Tahir noted that, it was unrealistic for AUN to continue anchoring its administrative structure on a bloated personnel. Whose role do not have significant effect on the philosophy of a development university.
“For years, the generosity of its founder has sustained its unwieldy staff population. But, of late, former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar has taken measures to rein in some of the burgeoning cost of sustaining several of his investments with recent restructuring. Where many of his business concerns have been aggregated, witnessing rationalisation of the workforce,” he stated.
He disclosed that, 46 staff members of Gotel Communications, a media outfit belonging to Atiku were retrenched on workers day.
He informed that the management of the corporation justified the action as a “culmination of ongoing restructuring exercise which was initiated last year for companies under the Priam Group.”
Tahir, however, noted that, although the AUN was not under the Priam Group, the lay-off of some employees of the institution became necessary. He said the bloated workforce could no longer be sustained.
