(Minna)
The crisis rocking the Federal government-owned, Scientific Equipment Development Institute (SEDI) Minna, Niger state is far from being over as the staff unions threatened to shut down the institute if the former Managing Director, Prof.
Mohammed Baba Ndaliman is re-appointed.
Duaglobalnews gathered that Ndaliman completed his first term of four years May 2019 and one of the senior staff of the institute, Dr. Abdullahi Saba, was appointed to manage the affairs of the institute in acting capacity.
However, some unions in the institute under the aegis of Joint Research and Allied Institutions Sector Unions (JORAISU),on hearing of plans by the former Managing Director to return to SEDI, kicked against his move.
The unions, therefore, threatened to “deploy all necessary arsenal within the legal and industrial ambit of the law to resist any attempt at the imposition of any guise that will undermine research and development as well as the fresh air of peace that the institute is currently enjoying.”
The unions communicated their views in a statement entitled, “Rejection of the renewal of tenure of Professor Mohammed Baba Ndaliman as the Managing Director/Chief Executive of Scientific Equipment Development Institute for the second term in office.”
Engineer Chinedu Ugwu Lawrence, Chairman ASURI, SEDI Minna and Comrade Ahmed A. Danladi Chairman NASU SEDI Minna jointly signed the statement a copy of which was made available to our correspondent in Minna on Tuesday.
The unions alleged that the four years of Professor Ndaliman at the helms of SEDI was a disaster as it brought about more of setbacks than developments to the institute.
They claimed that assessment of Professor Ndaliman by both internal and external assessors, as was the tradition and criteria for reappointment of a Managing Director, “have shown gross degree of failure and performance below expectations.” among other lapses on the part of Ndaliman.
“Therefore, this reminder and call is to convey to the NASENI Management and our relevant stakeholders above as well as members of the public, our earlier affirmation and unwavering stands on no renewal of tenure for Professor Mohammed Baba Ndaliman,”they said.
They also alleged that both academic and infrastructural development in the institute, under Ndaliman’s watch in the last four years, had been run aground and at the lowest ebb, resulting in members of staff “receiving salaries without doing anything.”
According to the unions, “SEDI before Ndaliman was producing and supplying scientific and mathematics kits to Primary and Junior Secondary schools in the country but noted that presently, the country is importing all these equipment”.
The unions wondered what could have prompted Ndaliman or those supporting his coming back to SEDI when before his watchful eye, items such as mathematical kits were being imported.
“What the institute could ordinaryly produce are now being imported from other countries,” they further alleged.
The unions further alleged that staff welfare had been taken for granted, resulting in lack of motivation and many staff eager for development professionally got discouraged.
“We will shutdown SEDI if he is imposed on the institute,”they stressed.
“The Congress has, therefore, passed a vote of no confidence on Ndaliman for his abysmal performance.
“Any attempt to impose the former Managing Director on the Institute will lead to us shut down SEDI, to show that research institutes cannot be taken for granted,”the unions further admonished.
Meanwhile, all attempts to get the reaction of Ndaliman yielded no results as several calls made to his mobile phone were not replied.
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