…To Preserve Industrial Peace, Harmony
The Joint Action Forum, JAF, of the Oyo State chapter of the Non-Academic Staff Union of Education and Associated Institutions, NASU, of state-owned tertiary institutions, comprising The Polytechnic, Ibadan; the Oke-Ogun Polytechnic, Saki; Adeseun Ogundoyin Polytechnic, Eruwa;
Emmanuel Alayande College of Education, Oyo; Oyo State College of Agriculture and Technology, Igboora; and the Oyo State College of Education, Lanlate, has called on the state government to as a matter of urgency look into some urgent and important issues that may affect the peaceful and industrial harmony existing between the government and NASU.
The NASU JAF made the call in a letter it wrote to the state Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Barr Rahman Abiodun Abdul-Raheem, asking to have an audience with the commissioner to iron the issues out amicably.
The letter, titled: ‘Re-Request to Seek Your Audience to Discuss Issues Affecting Tertiary Institutions in Oyo State,’ stated that despite being ignored in past in attempts to meet with the commissioner to thrash the issues, which the union described as ‘germane and threatening the peace of tertiary institutions in Oyo State,” it is still very much ready for a round table to discuss and resolve all the lingering issues.
The letter reads in part, “NASU JAF had sent letters, and we found out that they were not attended to, and this is the only union that cut across all the six state-owned institutions. We are using this medium to appeal to you sir, that whenever we are seeking for your audience, please do find time for us because we are one of the major stakeholders in the education sector and partners in progress.”
Insisting that tertiary institutions in Oyo State are in state of comatose, the NASU JAF called on the honourable commissioner to rescue the insititutions before things get out of hands.
The issues, according to the letter signed by the NASU JAF Secretary, Comrade T. Oyeniyi Oyewale, include: irregular payment of salary; reduction in monthly subventions to the state-owned tertiary institutions; the excesses of the chairman of the Governing boards of The Polytechnic, Ibadan and Adeseun Ogundoyin Polytechnic, Eruwa; and the dilapidated structures in the schools.
The union, while appreciating the state government for the regular payment of salary till July 2021, noted that the union has been experiencing irregular payment of monthly salary since August 2021, unlike what obtains in other parastatals within the state, which it described as a “deviance from the promise made by His Excellency, Engr. Oluseyi Abiodun Makinde on regular payment of salary on the 25th of every month.
It said, “The governor promised and kept to his promise until in the recent time. We want to know the reason behind it, and to know if we are not part of Oyo State workers.”
The union also expressed its shock at the discovery of reductions in monthly subventions to there state-owned tertiary institutions from February, 2022, “to a level that Oyo State College of Education, Lanlate could only afford to pay just 80 per cent of the February 2022 monthly staff salary. for the month of February, 2022.
The union added, “OYSCOED, Lanlate, and other few institutions witnessed such in the past and we believe that such era has gone until in the recent time that the predicament repeat itself.
“This union had appealed to the Oyo State government to increase the monthly subvention of OYSCOED, Lanlate, and Oyo State College of Agriculture and Technology, Igboora, and Emmanuel Alayande College of Education, Oyo in its memo dated Wednesday, 16th February, 2022.
“To our dismay, the government did not acceed to our request, rather it reduced the monthly subvention, subjecting the management of the affected institutions to consulting banks for loans, or seeking for other means of getting fund to augment the salary on monthly basis.
“This is nothing but a setback to our institutions and the government, which has not been doing the needful.”
The union also reminded the commissioner of its reporting the non-challant attitude of the chairmen of the councils of The Polytechnic, Ibadan and Adeseun Ogundoyin Polytechnic, Eruwa; and the need for the state government to curb the excesses of the two councils chairmen, until the issue snowballed into crisis at Adeseun Ogundoyin Polytechnic, Eruwa; while that of The Polytechnic, Ibadan us yet to be settled.
The union expressed sadness that rather than changing their ways, “the council chairman of The Polytechnic, Ibadan, has continued to threaten the life of the NASU Chairman, The Polytechnic, Ibadan branch; and continued churning out unpleasant policies, which would be resisted by the workers of The Polytechnic, Ibadan, very soon.”
The union also averred that most of the state-owned tertiary institutions’ infrastructures have becom dilapidated due to non-release of fund by the government or its agent, Platinum Consultant, for the repair of the structures.
It said, “These structures are aged, weak and due for repair so that we would not record casualities, especially during raining season. If government cannot build new classroom for these institutions, the management needs to repair the long aged ones and make it conducive for teaching and learning activities of the staff and students.”
The union therefore appealed to the honourable commissioner to use his good office to look into the issues raised critically and profer solution to them “in order to maintain peace and avoid industrial crisis in all the six state-owned institutions in Oyo State.”
