Bauchi tertiary institutions seek Bauchi governor’s intervention on welfare, working condition

Worried by the worsening working condition of the academic and non-academic staff of the Bauchi State-owned tertiary institutions, the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of the Academic and Non-Academic Staff Unions of Bauchi State Tertiary Institutions has called on the state Governor, Sen Bala Mohammed to as a matter of urgency, intervene on crucial labour issues bedevilling its members.

The call was contained in a press release signed and issued to journalists in Bauchi by the Chairman of JAC, Mohammed Abdukadir and the Secretary, Ibrahim Bala Abdallah.

The statement contained that: “It is very unfortunate that for so long we have not been enjoying some of our entitlements such as promotion implementation benefit, yearly increment, and consequential adjustment among others.”

The JAC while stating that its colleagues in Federal Colleges and Polytechnics are comfortably enjoying all of such benefits, it noted that it is also worrisome that some of its members are persistently omitted in the payroll, despite the genuineness of their appointments and the verifications they had undergone without indictment.

The union decried that despite a series of observations that have been forwarded on their cases to appropriate authorities, no positive result has come out.

“It is our belief that most of these problems are compounded by some ‘invisible’ consultants, against the initial good intention of Senator Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed, of cleansing ghost workers from the state payroll, without jeopardizing any genuine civil servant,” the union posited.

The press release reminded the state government that the promotion of its members in the tertiary institutions is not just tied to a waiting period.

“It involves conference presentations, journal publications, chapter publications, book publications, registration with professional bodies, community development, and stagnation without additional degrees, all of which are capital intensive and cause financial stress, especially with the devaluation of our currency and unprecedented inflation,” JAC stated.

According to the press statement, “JAC has written a series of letters, containing details of some or most of these anomalies but without tangible result.”

“Our fear is that our amiable governor might be blocked from having first-hand information about the whole scenario. We are therefore left with no alternative than to follow this channel before it is too late,” JAC further explained.

The union while lamenting brain drain among its members, said turning deaf ears on the matter would only escalate the rate of the problem in the state own institutions.

“This is going to be a situation we believe His Excellency would never compromise, having contradicted his efforts of making Bauchi State a model, educationally,” the release said.

The institutions include Abubakar Tatari Ali Polytechnic, Aminu Sale College of Education, AD. Rufal College for Legal and General Studies, Adamu Tafawa Balewa College of Education, Kangere and Bauchi State College of Agriculture.

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