The Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo (RUGIPO) chapters of the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) and the Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Polytechnics (SSANIP) have reported that 50 of their members have passed away due to inconsistent salary payments. This was announced following a joint meeting at the institution on Tuesday.
Post-meeting, Nafiu Okoro of SSANIP spoke to the press, highlighting the damage caused by irregular salary disbursements to union members within the polytechnic. He revealed that the institution’s management has been in arrears of salary payments for over 10 months. He stated, “The situation here is pathetic. I want to inform you that we have lost over 50 staff members as a result of irregularities in salary payments since a few years ago. In this year, three staff members died on the same day.”
Okoro also shared that both unions have lost faith in the governing council of the institution, led by Olubunmi Omoniyi. He accused the council of misappropriating several millions of naira while the institution’s staff remained unpaid. He said, “We are being paid a percentage of our salaries and being owed for many months while the council is spending bogus amounts of money on sitting allowances, quarterly allowances, and Christmas bonuses when the staff are wallowing in abject poverty.”
He further expressed the unions’ disappointment, stating, “We are going home on empty stomachs, particularly in this yuletide, which is a celebration of gifts. But we have nothing to take home to our families.” Okoro announced that the two unions have decided to go on an indefinite strike from January 2, 2024, if full salary payments are not made. He urged the state to allocate funds to the school’s management to settle the salaries and appealed to the state government to be responsive to the plight and needs of the polytechnic’s workers.
Okoro, the SSANIP chairman, expressed satisfaction that the polytechnic had been approved for upgrading to university status. He requested that the state government ensure that the polytechnic’s workers also transitioned to university workers.
Gbenga Aro, the chairman of NASU, echoed Okoro’s sentiments, stating that the two unions were united in their resolutions, representing the non-teaching staff of the polytechnic. Aro expressed concern that the workers’ dues and benefits were not being met, despite their significant roles in the institution. He said, “We have met and resolved in brevity that unless all the backlog of our salaries is paid, we are going to close down this institution by embarking on our suspended strike by January 1, 2024.”
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Aro suggested that the transition of the polytechnic to a university should involve the migration of the polytechnic’s staff to become university staff.
In response to the unions’ protests, the institution’s spokesperson, Samuel Ojo, described their concerns as normal. He invited the unions to present their grievances to the institution’s management for negotiation and discussion. Ojo emphasized the need for constructive dialogue between the unions and the polytechnic’s management for the mutual benefit of all parties.