Five Taraba State University Lecturers Die Within 2 Months

From Faruk Magaji Bamalli, Jalingo

Two more members of the academic staff union of Taraba State University, Jalingo, within one week, bringing the number to five within two months
 
Daily Trust gathered that Mr. Moses Kusho and Engineer Elachi Emmanuel, both members of the academic union, died on 23 and 28 December this year.
 
Daily Trust reports that three senior lecturers of the University, Professor Akporido Samuel, Dr. Kiliobas Sa’a, and Ibrahim Saleh Bali, died in November this year.
 
The chairperson of the union, Dr. Garba Mbave Joshua, who announced the death of the two lecturers, said,
 
“The year closes with heavy hearts and tear-streaked faces in the academic community of Taraba State University. In a single week, the cold hand of death has claimed two more bright minds: Mr. Moses Kusho, who passed on the 23rd of December, 2024, and Engr. Elachi Emmanuel, who succumbed on the 28th.” 
 
She stated that the two have gone not simply due to the inevitability of life’s end, but as victims of a system that denied them dignity, respect, and even the fruits of their labour.
 
“For years, TSU academic staff have borne the weight of unpaid earned academic allowances, salary backlogs, and an unfulfilled minimum wage, whispered about only on social media by politically motivated aides who dare to paint false rainbows over dark skies,” she further lamented.
 
The chairman stated that Mr. Kusho and Engr. Emmanuel toiled without relief and were denied their rightful pensions and left this world watching their oppressors snore comfortably in their beds of privilege.
 
According to her, the death of two members of the Union was not just a ttragedy but abetrayal, adding that the deceased  were not mere employees but  were educators, mentors, and builders of society.
 
She lamented that despite the contribution made in academic progress of the university, the government they worked for denied them the peace of mind to live and the dignity of a secure retirement.
 
“Their deaths are a grim reminder of the fragile state of academia in Nigeria, where intellect and dedication are undervalued, and humanity itself is often a casualty of systemic corruption.
 
“As the New Year looms, let us remember Mr. Kusho and Engr. Emmanuel, not only as individuals but as symbols of the need for urgent reform. Their sacrifices must not be in vain,” she further stated.