MEMBERS of the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Polytechnics (SSANIP) of the Moshood Abiola Polytechnic (MAPOLY), Abeokuta, have protested the non-payment of their three months’ salaries, among other grievances.
The protest, which took place in the school premises on Thursday, January 5, left other members of the polytechnic community stranded as various entrances to the institution were blocked by the aggrieved protesters.
Armed with different placards, the protesters called on the Ogun State government to come to their rescue.
They demanded a take-over of the institution by the state government, following the failure of the management of the school to meet up with its mandate.
Some of the inscriptions on the placards read, ‘Enough of suffering and smiling’, ‘Implementation of minimum wage’ and ‘Pay our pension deduction.’
Addressing journalists, the chairman of the MAPOLY chapter of SSANIP, Dada Olalekan, lamented the manner the school was being administered, describing it as “mismanagement.”
While also lamenting their unpaid promotion arrears, Olalekan pleaded with the state government to take over the school as it was done in other states so that the workers’ welfare would be adequately taken care of.
He said, “The management of MAPOLY is owing us three months salary from October 2022. All other institutions and government agencies are collecting the minimum wage, but MAPOLY has refused to implement the minimum wage.
“The management is owing us 55 months pension arrears. As I speak, nobody has a pension future here. If anybody retires tomorrow, there’s no future or pension for that person.
“The last promotion that was done in MAPOLY was in 2019; 2020 to 2022 promotions are still in arrears. Appointment promotion has not been done since 2019, while colleagues in other institutions have overtaken us because of promotion and appointment.
“The government should take account of MAPOLY and start to pay us as it is being done in all other states, like Oyo State.”
His counterpart in NASU, Kolawole Sapade, said MAPOLY was being run like a private institution where the only source of revenue are the school fees.
“The salary we are talking about now, if we collect it, there is no assurance that we will collect another salary in three months based on the JAMB and NBTE quota they gave to us.
“If we enroll students now with the limited quota they gave to us, and the limited school fees they are going to pay, there is no means of survival after March or April. That is why we are calling on government to come to our aid,” Sapade said.
The school’s spokesperson, Yemi Ajibola, could not be reached as several calls and text messages to his phone were not answered.
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