The leadership of Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) has urged the Federal Government to release the conditions and scheme of service for the Federal Government Research and Development Institutes across the country.
The call was made on Wednesday in a communiqué issued by the NASU Research and Projects Trade Union Group Unit after their congress meeting held in Lagos and signed by the union’s Deputy President /Chairman, Comrade Wakili Tijani.
The communiqué stressed that government has frustrated all efforts to accelerate the early approval and release of the conditions and scheme of service of the various research institution workers.
The union’s communiqué emphasised that their counterparts in the universities, polytechnics and colleges of education have their conditions and schemes of service upgraded thereby making their retirement age reviewed upward from 60 years to 65 years by the Federal Government, while that of the staff of Research and Allied Institutions Sector remained 60 years.
The union explained that the delay by government in granting approval for the release of the approved documents has made it impossible for the effective implementation of the 65 years- retirement age for staff of the Research and Allied Institutions and other welfare matters.
The union added that all necessary documents needed for the approval had been submitted to the Federal Government since 2013 but government has been dilly-dallying over the documents’ approval for the staff of the Research Institutes to enjoy such benefit.
The communiqué bemoaned the government agencies’ audacity to trample upon the right of workers to withdraw their service whenever their rights are infringed upon with the policy “no work, no pay” in the moribund Trade Dispute Act Section 43.
The council-in-session stressed that conscious of the fact that the Research and Development Institutions/Federal Colleges of Agriculture play prominent roles in the development of the nation, it urges the present administration to implement the portion of the agreement government had with the unions on the need to increase the annual budgetary allocations to the sector in line with the recommendations of UNESCO and approve a special Intervention Fund for a period of three years on a 50:30:20 ratio annually as well as create a special fund to be called National Research and Technology Development Fund (NRIDF).
The union called for adequate funding of research and development institutions across the country to enable them to play active roles as expected of such institutions in the technological advancement of the country.

Philip Okparaji