Re: Why staff moves against Agric Research Council
Until recently the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria, (ARCN) established vide Military Degree No. 44 of 1999 during the twilight of General Abdulsalami Abubakar regime (now an Act of the National Assembly), to coordinate various agro-based researches, policies and allied activities of the nation’s research institutes, had enjoyed industrial peace and harmony.
However, the bug of industrial actions recently bit the ARCN Secretariat located in Mabushi in the Federal Capital City, Abuja following disagreement between staff and the management over the 2017 senior staff cadre promotion exercise.
While the management under the Acting Executive Secretary, Professor Alikidon A. Voh (Jr), said the exercise was conducted in accordance to the approved guidelines by the ARCN Governing Board as well as condition of service, the Academic Staff Union of Research Institutes, (ASURI), secretariat branch, kicked contending that the exercise was “in violation of the ARCN Act.”
In a protest letter to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh signed by Messrs Ademola Oloyede and Ubi Ikpi, Chairman and Secretary respectively, ASURI urged the Minister to remove the Acting E.S and Dr. Celestine Ikuenobe who headed the promotion exercise committee.
The union accused the officials of gross incompetence, abuse of office and having both completed their mandatory one year of secondment to the ARCN in addition to their being over 60 years old and 35 years of service respectively.
To buttress their argument for the call for removal of the duo, the union cited a directive dated 29th January 2015 from the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation, which was copied to the then Executive Secretary of ARCN allegedly stating that the ARCN was a regulatory and policy coordinating body similar to that of National Universities Commission, (NUC) which regulates the universities and whose staff retire at 60 years or 35 years of service
The questions arise: why should a promotion exercise, lead to industrial disharmony? Are the staff of ARCN and those of the parent Ministry both enjoying the same conditions of service? What is the retirement age of a Professor and what is the fate of a public servant on secondment who was appointed to act in a higher capacity before the completion of his mandatory term of secondment when a substantive had not yet been appointed?
According to Voh, a Professor in Agricultural Research, in a news report in the October 19 edition of Daily Trust, the Council did everything within the ambit of law and in consonance with the condition of service of the ARCN staff pertaining to the promotion exercise.
Investigations by this writer revealed that for staff in the research cadres to be promoted to the rank of Assistant Director, such staff must possess a PhD in a relevant field, a requirement that had obviously caught some staff napping, because the management strictly adhered to this requirement in the 2017 exercise.
Also, findings revealed that unlike the staff of the parent Ministry, ARCN Staff enjoy the “Consolidated Research and Allied Institutes Salary Scale (CONRAISS) or Consolidated Medical Salary Scale (CONMESS) for Agric Officers andVeterinary Research Officer’s Cadres.” It therefore stands to reason that those who want to enjoy the better condition of benefits accruable to research staff should also be ready to accept the conditions applicable for their promotion and not that of the civil service.
By the civil service rule, the retirement age is 60 years or 35 years of service, but the Ag. ES as a Professor seconded to the ARCN first as Director, Coordination of Technical Research (C.T.R) retires at 70 years. He was appointed acting Executive Secretary on November 26th 2016 when his secondment was yet to lapse. Prior to his deployment Voh, 63, was a two -time Executive Director of National Animal Production Research Institute (NAPRI), Zaria. The question of his being incompetent as claimed by the union should not therefore arise in the first place.
Garba Yedimakudon, Abuja.