The Academic Staff Union of Research Institutions (ASURI) has given kudos to the Hon. Minister and the Hon. Minister of State for Science, Technology and Innovation (FMSTI) for acceding to the voice of reasoning by promptly intervening in the process of appointing Chief Executives for some agencies under their supervision.

Through a recent letter addressed to President Muhammadu Buhari, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), the Hon. Minister and the Hon. Minister of State at FMSTI, Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora and Chief Henry Ikechukwu Ikoh, respectively, the union commended the Ministers for “the prompt intervention in correcting the perceived deliberate and fraudulent lowering of qualification requirement in the on-going process of appointing Chief Executive Officers for National Board for Technology Incubation (NBTI) Abuja and National Centre for Technology Management (NACETEM), Ile Ife.”

In the four-paragraph letter, ASURI, which represents the interests of research fellows in all Federal Research and Development Institutions (RDIs), inter-University Centres, Allied Institutions and Agencies, told Mr. President: “Sir, we affirm our implicit confidence in the exemplary leadership of the Honourable Ministers as arrowheads of the Muhammadu Buhari Administration in the Science, Technology and Innovation sector as they have both lived up to the billing of their rating when they resumed at the ministry last year.”

The letter, signed by the President of ASURI, Dr. Nnamdi A. Onunka, adds: “We must note that not only have they declared the sham internal advertisements by the Governing Boards for the positions of Directors General/CEO of NBTI and NACETEM a nullity in answer to our prayer in our petitions, but they have also initiated a fresh process of appointing the Chief Executive Officers for NBTI, NACETEM and Nigerian Natural Medicine Development Agency (NNMDA) in consonance with the approved Conditions of Service for Federal Research and Development Agencies, Institutes and Colleges (COS 2019).

“In passing a vote of confidence therefore in their leadership and, by extension, the Muhammadu Buhari Administration, we would like to assure the Federal Government that the union shall continue to cooperate with the Ministry in keeping a close tab on the RDI sector to ensure the sustenance of industrial harmony in the agencies.”
In two separate earlier petitions, the union had protested the process being followed in the search for substantive Chief Executive Officers for NBTI and NACETEM.

The petitions, titled “PROTESTING THE COMPROMISED PROCESS OF APPOINTING A SUBSTANTIVE DIRECTOR GENERAL/CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER FOR NATIONAL CENTRE FOR TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT (NACETEM) ILE-IFE” and “PROTESTING THE DELIBERATE AND FRAUDULENT LOWERING OF THE QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENT IN FAVOUR OF THE OVERSEEING DIRECTOR GENERAL OF THE NATIONAL BOARD FOR TECHNOLOGY INCUBATION (NBTI), MR. SOMEFUN, IN THE ON-GOING PROCESS OF APPOINTING DIRECTOR GENERAL FOR THE AGENCY,” were dated 14th December and 20th December 2022, respectively.

On receipt of the petitions, the Hon. Ministers reportedly invited all the stakeholders and held separate meetings with them in the Conference Room of the Hon. Minister before annulling the process to make room for a more transparent process that would follow due process as laid down by the Conditions of Service for Research Institutes and Allied Agencies and which would ensure that the advertisements were well publicized.

The stakeholders included the leadership of the union, the Governing Boards of the Institutes and the Overseeing Chief Executives, among others. In response therefore, the Ministry, through a letter dated 28th February 2023, with Ref. No. FMSTI/HMOSTI/005/I/239 to ASURI, announced fresh advertisements for the position of Director General/Chief Executive Officers for both NBTI and NACETEM, as well as National Natural Medicine Development Agency (NNMDA), Lagos, asking the union to give it maximum publicity within the RDIs.

The letter, signed by the Hon. Minister of State, Chief Henry Ikechukwu Ikoh, states: “With reference to your letters on the above subject matter to Mr. President and copied to my office, I write to forward to you three internal Advertisements for effective circulation amongst all the research Institutes in Nigeria to enable interested outstanding and meritorious scientists with record of at least 5 years as Directors on CONRAISS 15 or equivalent to apply for the respective positions in National Board for Technology Incubation (NBTI), Nigerian Natural Medicine Development Agency (NNMDA) and National Center for Technology Management (NACETEM).”

Prior to those two letters of last December, ASURI had been giving the Government close marking on the need to follow due process in the appointment process. On the 4th of October 2022, the union wrote two separate letters to SGF and the Hon. Ministers concerning the two agencies.

In the one concerning NACETEM, titled, “URGENT NEED TO FOLLOW DUE PROCESS IN THE APPOINTMENT OF A SUBSTANTIVE DIRECTOR GENERAL/CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER FOR NATIONAL CENTRE FOR TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT (NACETEM), ILE IFE,” the union quoted the relevant portions of the Conditions of Service for Federal Research and Development Agencies, Institutes and Colleges (COS 2019) on the procedure for appointing Chief Executives.

In the other letter, concerning NBTI which was titled, “URGENT NEED TO COMMENCE THE PROCESS OF APPOINTING A SUBSTANTIVE DIRECTOR GENERAL/CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER FOR NATIONAL BOARD FOR TECHNOLOGY INCUBATION (NBTI), ABUJA,” ASURI noted that the task of appointing the Chief Executive had been made seamless if the provisions of COS 2019 are followed.

Reacting to the development, the Secretary General of ASURI, Professor Theophilus Ndubuaku, said the union is insists on due process because apart from funding, the journey towards a Research Institute operating in an atmosphere of industrial harmony and delivering on mandate starts from putting the round peg in the round hole while appointing Chief Executives.

He cited Federal Institute of Industrial Research, Oshodi (FIIRO) and Projects Development Institute (PRODA), Enugu, as examples, noting that all the industrial unrest, in-fighting and negative media reports emanating from those agencies ceased with the Chief Executives emerging through due process last year.

By OUR STAFF WRITER

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