Staff unions at Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic, Zaria, Kaduna State, under the umbrella of the Joint Action Committee, have issued a two-week ultimatum to the state government to meet their long-standing demands or face industrial action.
Key demands include the immediate implementation of an updated salary structure for both academic and non-academic staff, as well as enforcement of the 65-year retirement age for non-academic staff in line with federal and state polytechnic standards.
At a press briefing in Zaria on Friday, Chairman of the Joint Action Committee and head of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), Malam Usman-Shehu Suleiman, decried the institution’s deteriorating infrastructure and outdated teaching equipment.
Suleiman noted that staff are still being paid under the Consolidated Tertiary Institution Salary Structure (CONTISS), last revised in 2012. He said the union has consistently urged the government to adopt the more current Consolidated Polytechnic and Colleges of Education Academic Staff Salary Structure (CONPCASS).
“At our last meeting with Governor Uba Sani on 17 December 2024, he pledged to begin transitioning from CONTISS to CONPCASS in the first quarter of 2025. Unfortunately, nothing has been done since then,” Suleiman stated.
He announced that the ultimatum would run from 31 May to 13 June. Should the government fail to respond, a one-week warning strike will commence on 16 June, followed by an indefinite strike if the situation remains unresolved.
Also speaking, Mr. Abubakar Aliyu-Shika, Chairman of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Polytechnics (SSANIP), NUBA branch, said the issue of salary adjustment dates back to 2009.
“We’ve signed multiple agreements with the state government, but none have been honoured. The excuse has always been funding constraints, yet the government recently hired 500 new staff, raising the total workforce to over 900. This clearly suggests financial capacity to meet our demands,” he said.
A lecturer, Mr. Hamdan Elisha, also criticised the poor remuneration, disclosing that some lecturers earn as little as ₦64,000 monthly.
“It’s extremely demoralising,” he said, attributing the institution’s high academic staff turnover to the dire working conditions.
