SSANIP Urges Federal Govt To Withdraw Contentious Guidelines For Polytechnic Appointments

By Our Correspondent 

The federal government has been told to withdraw the new guidelines for the appointments of Principal Officers of Polytechnics  in Nigeria.  The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Polytechnics (SSANIP) which made this call on the federal ministry of education pointed out that the guidelines clearly  contravene subsisting schemes of service in these institutions.

SSANIP, speaking through its national President, Comrade Philip Adebanjo Ogunsipe lamented that the federal ministry of education which is the supervisory institution for harmonizing Polytechnic schemes of service in order to ensure quality assurance has now become a clog in the wheels of development of Polytechnics in Nigeria. 

Ogunsipe noted with dismay that the government, through its agencies has been grossly responsible for systemic failure in the education sector, causing persistent industrial disputes in tertiary institutions.

SSANIP, therefore, appealed to the ministry of education to withdraw the "contentious guidelines" for the appointments of Principal Officers of Polytechnics in Nigeria forth with.

The association recalls with regret that the ministry had earlier admitted, at a meeting with it "that the supervisory body of  Polytechnics, the National Board For Technical Education, (NBTE) is in better position to handle the matter only for it (ministry of education) to "proceed with this anomaly".

In similar vein, the Association called on the Head of Service of the Federation to release,  speedily, the Schemes and conditions of service for Polytechnics and allied institutions without further delay. The union added that such actions, if taken immediately, would go a long way in harmonizing conflicting guidelines.

Ogunsipe reminds the  federal government to recall  agreements reached at a meeting with the government wherein it was resolved that  #15b , though inadequate, should be released to the sector with a plea that the agreement should be honored by the federal government.

SSANIP further implore  the federal ministry of education and other authorities concerned to be attentive to its calls and plights as a way of averting another industrial disputes in the education sector.