The Joint Action Committee of staff unions at Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic in Zaria, Kaduna State, has issued a two-week ultimatum to the Kaduna State Government to meet their demands or face industrial action. The ultimatum, effective from May 31 to June 13, was announced at a press briefing on Friday, where union leaders decried neglect of staff welfare and poor infrastructure at the institution.
At the forefront of the unions’ demands is the implementation of a proper salary structure and the adoption of a 65-year retirement age for non-academic staff, aligning with policies already in place at other state and federal polytechnics. “The Kaduna State Government must implement the Consolidated Polytechnic and Colleges of Education Academic Staff Salary Structure (CONPCASS) as promised, and stop paying us the outdated CONTISS,” said Comrade Usman-Shehu Suleiman, chairman of the Joint Action Committee and head of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) at the institution.
According to Suleiman, the government has failed to keep to its word since a meeting held with Governor Uba Sani on December 17, 2024. “At the last meeting we had with Governor Uba Sani, he promised to convert the CONTISS to CONPCASS on a percentage basis by the first quarter of 2025, and nothing was done in that regard,” he stated. Suleiman emphasized that the union had exhausted all civil means of engagement before resorting to this ultimatum.
The union also cited the lack of functional teaching equipment and the deterioration of infrastructure as major issues affecting learning and research at the polytechnic. “Our laboratories and workshops are obsolete, classrooms are dilapidated, and there is no environment conducive for teaching and learning,” Suleiman said, describing the neglect as “a betrayal of the vision of polytechnic education.”
Abubakar Aliyu-Shika, chairman of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Polytechnics (SSANIP), echoed Suleiman’s frustration. He explained that negotiations with the state government on salary improvement had been ongoing since 2009. “We had many agreements with the state government over the matter, and nothing was done besides just signing the agreement and complaints of paucity of funds,” Aliyu-Shika revealed.
Aliyu-Shika added that the recent mass recruitment by the government indicated a shift in financial priorities. “The total staff strength of the polytechnic is a little above 900 staff members, and now the government has recruited 500 new staff; it means the financial situation has improved, hence our demands,” he said.
Hamdan Elisha, a lecturer at the school, painted a grim picture of the salary condition among lecturers. “Some of our lecturers go home with as low as N64,000 monthly. It’s dire and obnoxiously saddening. How do you expect a PhD holder to survive or raise a family on that?” he asked rhetorically. Elisha warned that morale among staff had hit an all-time low.
As tension brews, the unions have resolved to begin a one-week warning strike from June 16 to 20 should the government fail to act. “At the expiration of this ultimatum (June 13), if nothing is done, the unions will embark on a one-week warning strike and subsequently proceed to an indefinite strike,” Suleiman declared. The Nigeria Education News will continue to monitor the situation closely.
