The academic and non-academic staff unions of the state-owned Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic, Zaria, Kaduna, have issued a one-week ultimatum to the state government to address growing insecurity and poor academic and living conditions at the institution.
At a joint press conference of the unions in Zaria on Sunday, the president of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) of the school, Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic, Usman-Shehu Suleiman, said the employees will go on strike if the government does not meet their demands.
Sulaiman said that on June 11, 2021, academic staff, their families and students were abducted from the institution, forcing the state government to replace the school’s security guards with military personnel and some members of the Vigilance Service. of Kaduna State.
He stated that both military personnel and security personnel were planning to leave due to non-payment of their allowance.
“Withdrawing military service from the school would put everyone at risk of kidnapping and other criminal acts. There are informants who will leak this event,” he said.
He stated that since February the monthly expenses of the institution have not been paid. He said this has caused the school to postpone exams and results presentations, and provide ID cards to students, among other things.
According to the union leader, the school was in its 13th week of resumption and should have started exams, but this was not possible as the booklet was not provided.
“We will give a one-week ultimatum to the government to address the payment of subsidy arrears,” he said.
Mahmud Aliyu-Kwarbai, president of the polytechnic’s non-academic staff union, said staff members live in constant fear of security breaches.
“We don’t have functional security at school; Our security was withdrawn and replaced by security personnel from the Kaduna State Vigilance Service (KadVS).
“KadVS staff attached to the school abandoned their posts due to non-payment of their allowances, leading to serious theft and vandalism of school properties,” Mr Kwarbai said.
The polytechnic’s public relations officer, Abdullahi Shehu, told reporters that the school management was trying to rectify the concerns of staff members.
