NASU decries non-payment of research institutes employees’ allowance

The Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities (NASU) and Associated Institutions have flayed Federal Government’s decision to exclude university-based research institutes from the N30 billion released as part payment of the Earned Allowances of university workers.

It regretted that the demand by the institutes since 2014 for the payment of the allowances have not yielded any positive results.

The Council, therefore, appealed to the Federal Government to release the funds for the payment of the allowances to the institutes to avoid any industrial action in the sector.

In a communiqué issued by NASU’s Research and Projects Trade Group Council at the end of its meeting held at the National Water Resources Institute, Mando Road, Kaduna, the union lamented the poor funding of the nation’s Research and Development (R&D) Institutions and Federal Colleges of Agriculture.

The council urged government to devise a steady flow of funds to the sector for the national aspirations for which the Institutions were established.

The communiqué, which was signed by deputy president and chairman NASU, Research and Projects Trade Group Council, Wakili Tijani and senior deputy general secretary, NASU, Emma Okonkwor, said government should pay more attention to technological breakthrough with adequate funding of the R&D Institutions and Federal Colleges of Agriculture.

It stressed the need for the present administration to implement the agreement government had with unions in the education sector to increase its annual budgetary allocations in line with UNESCO’s recommendations.

To achieve increased resources for the research institutes, NASU called for the approval of a special intervention fund, specifically to fund research efforts for three years on a 50:30:20 annual ratio and also create a National Research and Technology Development Fund (NRTDF).

The council also decried the delay in approving the release of the conditions and scheme of service for the Federal R&D Institutes, Colleges, Agencies and Allied Institutions, the Joint Committee of the unions and Committee of Directors of Research Institutes (CODRI) submitted to government since 2013.

It stated that delay in granting approval for the release of the documents has made it impossible for the implementation of the 65 years retirement age for staff of the Research and Allied Institutions and other welfare matters.

Council noted that while their counterparts in the universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education have had their retirement age reviewed upward from 60 years to 65 years, retirement age for staff of Research and Allied Institutions sector had remained 60 years.