Staff of National Institute for Trypanosamiasis and Onchocerciasis Research (NITR) headquarters in Kaduna in their hundreds embarked on three-day warning strike on Monday to press home their demands which the management has neglected.
As early as 7.30am on Monday, the aggrieved staff of the Institute as early as 7:30am blocked all the entry points of the Institute preventing staff access to their offices, while holding placards with various messages such as, “Follow due process in recalling staff on Training Dr (Mrs) FNC Enwezo”; “Stop misterpretating the Public service rules and offices documents”; “No staff sponsorship for more than 15 years in NITR among others”.
Pressing home their demands, Head of the three unions of the Institute; Academic Staff Union of Research Institutes (ASURI), Senior Staff Association of Teaching Hospitals, Universities and Research Institutes (SSATHURI) and Non Academic Staff Union (NASU), Moyijo Hussaini, said the Overseer DG has refused to recognise the reverse condition of service of 2019 which was adopted and recognised by all research institutions in the country except NITR.
“it is disheartening when the Minister of Science and Innovation, Dr Ogbonna Onu is putting his best to reshape the Ministry at the direction to achieve the desire goal of President Muhammadu Buhari, the overseeing DG, Dr FNC Enwezo is creating industrial disharmony since her assumption in office in September 2021.
“Today we are the only institute, that does not recognize the reverse condition of service and book of service, a document that is approved by the Head of Service of the Federation to all federal establishments. Implementation of the book has been put into use by all research institutions in the country except NITR,” he said.
The staff also accused the Overseer for recalling over 100 staff who are currently on training in various universities and organizations within and outside the country without due process. He said the affected staff have gone on training with the approval of the Institute, saying some of them are even about to round off their study but they were abruptly asked to return to the office.
“This Institute cannot boast of 10 PhD holders despite being a research institute based on scholarly work. We wrote to the Overseer DG in order to sit down and iron some of these things, but she has been avoiding us,” he said.
When contacted to comment on the allegations against her, the Overseeing DG, Dr FNC Enwezo, said she cannot respond now, but that she will address the press on a later date.
