BY DAYO ADESULU

The national officers of the Academic Staff Union of Research Institutes (ASURI) have called on the federal government to set up a visitation panel to clear the rot, lawlessness and mismanagement endemic in the research institutes.

The National Administrative Secretary of ASURI, Mr. Wole Akinwale in Lagos said: “Because of the rot, lawlessness and mismanagement in ASURI, we call on the Federal Government to set up a visitation panel to clear the rot endemic in the research institutes.”

He said that the panel should go round the research institute to asses the situation, saying this has become necessary because the nation is not getting the best despite continuous budgetary allocations to them.

According to the dons, research is important in any development agenda, arguing that  despite this fact, the little funds allocated for the research institutes are often spent on administrative and capital projects to the detriment of proper funding for actual research.

The researchers also called for the establishment of research institutes commissions to co-ordinate the activities of research institutes nation wide.

They were particularly bitter about the improper way in which the executive directors of some research institutes were appointed by government without due regards for the existing laws governing the administration and management of the research institutes.

They also complained against the clever ways in which some chief executives have manipulated the loopholes in existing laws to achieve a sort of tenure elongation.

Citing examples, Akinwale said: “The situation at some institutes (names withheld) are typical examples. For instance, a professor was made executive director against existing laws governing the running of research institutes. The existing laws stipulates that only a staff of a research institute that has risen to the position of a director after continuous and meritorious service spanning not less than a decade, could be appointed as executive director.

According to Akinwale,  “a former executive director in one of the institutes is a professor. He did not enjoy the support of the staff because it was perceived that he came through an unacceptable process which is contrary to the law.” He recalled that the tenure of the said former executive director was characterized by strikes by the union to ensure that the law and due process were followed.

His words: “We are not happy at the situation in the institutes and we want the Federal Government to address urgently all the issues that we have raised.

The union is also dissatisfied with the situation at at another institute where a professor appointed executive director in 2007 has approval to stay in office till 2015 despite the fact that the law says he should be in office for an un-renewable five years period. In pursuit of fairness and due process, the ASURI branch in that institute has embarked on strike to protest against tenure elongation by the professor.

To restore normalcy, the Minister of Environment set up a committee which investigated the union’s complaints. The union was proved right so the minister invited the union leaders to a meeting with the leadership of the ministry.

A communiqué issued at the end of the meeting on May 10, 2012 announced that the Executive Director of FRIN should leave office immediately or be allowed to stay till January next year when he is due for mandatory retirement at 65.

It was resolved that on June 7, 2012, the union and the ministry would come up with a document to forestall re-occurrence of the tenure elongation since it was observed that there were lapses in the enabling law that established FRIN.