Teaching and a mid-term examination were disrupted on Wednesday as staff of the International School, University of Lagos (ISL), protested their alleged removal from the university’s payroll and the failure to implement a court judgement in their favour.
The protesting workers gathered at the school’s main gate, chanting solidarity songs and demanding the restoration of their names to the payroll, alongside the payment of outstanding allowances and other benefits.
The pedestrian gate remained open throughout the protest, allowing students to enter the premises. However, the workers said the mid-term examination was not conducted and teaching activities were suspended.
The protesters carried placards bearing inscriptions such as “Equal Work, Equal Rights”, “ISL Tutors Deserve Their Due”, “Other UNILAG Staff Paid, ISL Tutors Still Owed” and “Same University, Same Commitment, Same Rights”.
The Chairman of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), University of Lagos chapter, Dr Ademola Yusuf, said the dispute had persisted for years, with the affected workers allegedly removed from the university’s payroll without explanation.
Yusuf explained that the workers discovered the omission when they attempted to register on the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) but were told their names were not on the platform.
“All of a sudden, whimsically and capriciously, our names were removed from the payroll,” he said.
“We did not know until the issue of IPPIS came on board and we gathered to do the capture. Finally, we were not allowed to be captured because they said they had removed our names.”
He said the workers’ names were initially restored following the intervention of the then Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council, Wale Babalakin, but were removed again after their salaries were paid in February 2020.
“We were paid in February, only for them to remove our names again by March. What did we do? They gave no reason whatsoever,” Yusuf said.
He maintained that the affected workers were employees of the university’s governing council and should enjoy the same rights and benefits as other members of staff.
“The way the vice-chancellor was employed is the way we were employed. We all have the same letters. So, what offence did we commit? Why did you remove our names?” he asked.
Yusuf said the workers subsequently approached the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, which ruled in their favour on 11 May 2026.
He alleged that the university had yet to fully address their grievances despite the judgment, including restoring their names to the payroll and paying outstanding benefits.
“The only thing we are aware of is that they are in the dark about whether they will appeal or not appeal. That judgment is still lying on the table till now,” he said.
Yusuf also raised concerns over unpaid allowances, including outstanding components of the Consolidated Tertiary Institutions Salary Allowance. He said the workers had continued to engage the university authorities without reaching a satisfactory resolution.
He warned that the workers were prepared to escalate their action if their demands were not met, adding that the dispute affected staff beyond the teaching department.
A tutor at the school, Asaju Toye, who said he had worked at the institution for 31 years, also accused the university of failing to implement the court judgment despite repeated appeals by the workers and their lawyer.
Toye said the workers were recruited by the university’s governing council and had previously enjoyed benefits available to other university employees before their names were removed from the payroll.
According to him, the problem became apparent in 2019 when the affected workers attempted to register on IPPIS and discovered that their names had not been pre-loaded on the platform.
He said their names were temporarily restored following the intervention of the then Pro-Chancellor but were removed again in March 2020.
Toye added that the court subsequently upheld the workers’ position that they were university employees entitled to the same rights and privileges as other members of staff.
“We are asking for obedience to the court order, to restore us to the payroll, like every other federal government staff in the university,” he said.
He said the workers were also demanding outstanding entitlements, including arrears arising from salary adjustments and allowances.
Toye disclosed that about 60 staff members remained affected, compared with more than 100 initially involved in the dispute, following the retirement of some workers.
He said the school principal addressed the protesters on Wednesday morning but did not give assurances that their demands would be met.
The workers said they would continue their protest indefinitely while awaiting the outcome of discussions with the university management.
When contacted for the university’s response to the protest and the allegations, its spokesperson, Adejoke Alaga-Ibraheem, promised to respond but had yet to do so as of the time of filing this report.
