By Ola Ajayi

THINGS are no longer at ease in the 95-year old Federal College of Agriculture, Moor Plantation, Ibadan, after the management suspended some academic staff for claiming to be members of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, ASUP.

•PROTEST: Some of the protesting lecturers at Federal College of Agriculture, Ibadan.

While the management is insisting that the suspension order placed on the lecturers is in order, the affected staff and their colleagues are claiming that the mannagement is only trying to muzzle them from speaking the truth and also deny them the rights to belong to the association of their choice.

Speaking through the Provost of the college, Dr. Babajide Adelekan, the management noted that their suspension was based on alleged gross misconduct and recalcitrance to constituted authority.

According to him, the misconduct which merits suspension as well as the procedure for suspension are all clearly spelt out in the public service rules handbook of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

He said before the suspension, the staff wrote a letter to the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria notifying it of their intention to join ASUP which is a Polytechnic union and the Council in a letter marked ARCN/G/01/S.4/1 and signed by Edeki John Enesi, an Assistant Director in the office of the council’s secretary, denied them their request stating that “associating with the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics(ASUP) is not approved and not allowed to operate in the Federal Colleges of Agriculture nationwide.”

He said despite the disapproval of the Council, the staff still went ahead to disrupt academic activities, refuse to release the results of examination in their possession and keys to their offices.

He further stated that the staff remained adamant in joining ASUP so that they can force the conditions of service of the Ministry of Education on the Federal Colleges of Agriculture and also have their promotions without a PhD degree.

“They want to align with ASUP in a bid to force the Federal Colleges of Agriculture away from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development”, he said.

ASUP reacts, protest

But, the academic staff, who responded through the Chairman, Mr. Jokanola Olufemi and the Secretary, Mr. Oluade Eyitayo Atilade said to demonstrate the understanding of the staff, the results that the provost referred to, have been released.

ASUP said: “the in-house disciplinary committee set up by Dr. Adelekan-led administration of the college was deliberately constituted to further victimise the affected members.  The composition of the committee did not have representatives of workers’ unions in the college. Again, the members of the committee comprised individuals that had been looking for opportunity to clampdown on the leadership of ASUP in the college.”

While staging a protest against the decision alleging that they were unduly victimized for being members of ASUP, the aggrieved academic staff displayed placards with various inscriptions asking the management to allow them belong to association of their choice.

While doubting that their suspension letter emanated from the Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Audu Ogbeh, they demanded immediate reversal of what they described as arbitrary suspension order and withdrawal of nine queries issued to executive members of the Union based on their involvement in union activities.

During the protest, the affected staff and their colleagues, Jokanola Olufemi and Atilade made some demands including immediate re-constitution of heads of departments with credible and experienced members of staff; remuneration of all academic staff involved in teaching part time students; promotion of of Mr. Oluade whose promotion was stopped in 2015 with all accrued benefits; immediate and unconditional regularisation of job specifications of some academic staff in the college.

The staff also claimed that before the appointment of the provost, he had been supportive of ASUP and had allegedly been sympathetic to their cause only to change overnight and start using undue influence on the union.

They said that the decision of academic staff in all Federal Colleges of Agriculture across the country to withdraw their membership from Academic Staff Union of Coleges of Agriculture, ASUCA for ASUP was informed by the unregistered status of the ASUCA despite its existence for over a decade.

“Given the unregistered status of the ASUCA and lack of both political and financial accountability by its leadership in which Dr. Adelekan is also included, the representatives at a meeting on June, 10, 2014 in Akure, Ondo State had reached a concensus that members of ASUCA should move to ASUP”, they said.