The Academic and non-academic staff of Osun State-owned tertiary Institutions, on Tuesday evening, gave the state government an option of decentralizing planned staff audit of the state workforce, or face the unions’ industrial action.
The unions which spoke through the Chairman of the Academy Staff Union, (ASUP) of the Osun State Polytechnic, Iree, Comrade Dr. Fatai Afolabi, charged Governor Ademola Adeleke to direct the consulting firm on the need to decentralise the exercise.
The unions, however, threatened to embark on industrial action if the consulting firm failed to reason and put concerns they’ve raised into consideration.
The Academy Staff Union of the three institutions, ASUP, COEASU, NASU, SSANIP of Osun State Polytechnic, Iree, Osun State College of Technology, Esa-Oke and Osun State College of Education, Ila-Orangun, maintained that there was the need for urgent review of the statewide staff audit.
In a letter signed by the Chairmen and secretaries, addressed to Governor, Ademola Adeleke a copy which was made available to our correspondent called for immediate decentralization of the 2023 annual statewide staff audit.
Fatai argued that, the centralisation of the whole exercise at Centre for Black Culture and International in Osogbo will add more burden on the workers in the state at this time when people are battling with the hardship occasioned by fuel subsidy removal.
“We demand the immediate decentralisation of the 2023 annual statewide staff audit.
“We are not against the proposed annual staff audit exercise but we vehemently oppose the modules operandi, which centralised the whole exercise at Centre for Black Culture and International.
“Shutting down the State-owned tertiary institutions for three or four days will affect the running of the institutions where ex-students coming from various parts of the country would not be able to process and collect their statement of results, certificates and transcripts among others.
“Taking from the above, the current students of the institution would be denied access to teaching and learning for this period which may lead to students unrest Risks involved in mass movement of workers from various, parts of the State may be ameliorated if the exercise is decentralized considering the level of insecurity in the country.
“Considering the present situation of the country with sudden subsidy removal without any policy of palliative in the State, the cost involved in mobilising all workers to a centralized place will be reduced if the exercise is decentralised.”
“Most of the institutions are preparing for the accreditation exercise which entails all staff to be on ground as the exercise is paramount to the survival of the institutions.
“It is more comfortable for consulting firms to go around the institutions rather than endangering the life of the workers. The consultant can look at the ratio of the risk involved while you engage many people coming to a place and engage lesser people going to a place.
“The Government is enjoined to grant the above stated prayers to maintain industrial peace and harmony that we have been enjoying in the State,” he added.
He thereafter advised the government to decentralise the annual State staff audit by directing the consultant firm to move around the various institutions in order not to add to the hardship of the workers.
“The said staff auditing is not the first time in the history of the state and the exercise had been done by the previous administrations. Osun government should maintain our natural tradition of the exercise whereby members are attended to at their various institutions/campuses without affecting their daily schedule of duties.”
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