The Federal Polytechnic in Ado-Ekiti (AdoPoly) has been reopened, two
months after a workers’ strike. Students are angry the strike achieved nothing,
describing it as a plot
to waste their time.
Read The Nation's Temitope Yakubu's report.
Life has returned to the Federal Polytechnic in Ado-Ekiti after a
two-month workers’ strike. The institution was shut following allegation of
corruption against management. It was closed down two weeks to the semester
examination, causing students’ anguish.
The workers’ unions accused the Rector, Dr Theresa Akande, of mismanaging
the internally-generated revenue (IGR). The unions, comprising the Academic
Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), Senior Staff Association of Nigerian
Polytechnics (SSANIP) and Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) accused management of
mismanaging N250 million since 2014.
They also accused the rector of non-implementation of the Consolidated
Tertiary Institution Salary Scale (CONTISS) 15, saying it amounted to “gross
insensitivity” for management to turn a blind eye to the plight of over 500
workers without portfolio in the school.
According to ASUP chairman Tunji Owoeye, management deliberately stopped
the implementation of CONTISS 15 as directed by the Federal Government. He
said: “We want to tell the world that the workers are being marginalised by the
rector. We will continue to protest until the school adopts the parity policy
of a single system.
“We have been agitating for the implementation of starting point of
salary scale, which is CONTISS 8 in the polytechnic. When CONTISS 15 was
introduced in 2009, only the senior staff benefited because people in CONTISS
12 and above were promoted, while those on CONTISS 11 and below were
marginalised.”
The rector denied the allegations, saying there was no substance in them.
The Federal Government, she said, had started looking into the issues.
The unions, the rector said, did not communicate their positions to
management before embarking on the indefinite strike, adding that management
has been meeting with them on the way out.
Dr Akande said: “The Federal Government has set up a Presidential Panel
to look into these issues. The fact that I am still the rector despite all
their allegations shows that there is no substance in them. The National Board
for Technical Education (NBTE), the agency supervising polytechnic education in
the country, and the Federal Ministry of Education are looking into the
migration issue because it is not a local issue. It affects all federal
polytechnics in the country.”
The Deputy Registrar for Information and Protocol, Mr Adeyemi Adejolu,
described the unions’ complaints as “old allegations packaged anew”.
He said: “The workers’ unions have petitioned the Minister of Education,
Department of State Service (DSS), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission
(ICPC) and other regulatory agencies. Government is already looking into their
allegations. This is not enough reason to shut down the school.”
CAMPUSLIFE gathered that the workers suspended the action after meeting
with representatives of the Federal Ministry of Labour and management to sign
an agreement.
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