Members of staff comprising academic and non-academic staffers of the Nigeria Maritime University NMU located in Okerenkoko, the Gbaramatu Kingdom of Warri South Local Government Area in Delta State have given strong reasons over their decision to shut the specialised institution, citing management’s insensitivity to workers’ welfare.

But in a swift reaction, the Vice Chancellor of the university, Professor Emmanuel Adigio, said the institution is in full session with full academic activities in progress, insisting there was no reason for any strike by members of staff in the first place since issues of workers’ welfare are paramount to the management.

The workers comprising the academic and non-academic of staffers the university had commenced an indefinite strike today, November 9, 2021 to protest alleged non- payment of over 30 months of allowances, general poor welfare for members of staff and poor infrastructure, to which the management had paid deaf ears after repeated warnings. The decision to embark on a strike, according to the workers, was reached Monday, after a meeting of both the academic and non-staffers at the temporary campus in Kurutie also in Delta State.

Some of the grievances of the workers include alleged non-paid allowances, which include the 13th– Month, payable every October, which was stopped since 2019, 28th –day accommodation allowance in lieu, stopped since 2019, statutory incidental, hazard, peculiarity and other allowances in one package also stopped since May, 2019, all of which they claimed were approved by the Federal Government through the council and earned prior to May, 2019, as payments were allegedly ongoing before the advent of the current management.

Others include inadequate infrastructure for teaching and learning, inadequate office accommodation for staffers, total absence of a Library at Okerenkoko campus, no residential accommodation for staffers etc and that as NMU staffers, their duty is to meet up on their part in terms of the service level agreement (SLA), ‘DO OUR JOB’, while the job of management is to pay for their services and that how and where they get the money, is not the business of staffers.

In a resolution jointly signed by Comrades Oweikeye Pathfinder Endoro and Moses Yabrade after the meeting, the staff unanimously endorsed the strike.

The resolution reads in part: “Staff of NMU at all levels, namely, academic and non-academic agree that the patience and understanding with management regarding the needs of staffers has been long envisaged and misconstrued to imply ignorance and weakness.

“The only congress held out of pressure on the 19th of February, 2021 where management in attendance promised to look into staffers welfare issues, till date has not yet yielded any pleasant outcome, rather worsening and unabated.

“To this, staffers have resolved as follows: that workers’ 28 days in lieu of accommodation for new employees be paid without further delay, workers relocation allowance from Kurutie take-off campus to Okerenkoko, Abuja and Warri offices, covering expenses on accommodation, transport, furnishing and risk be paid without further delay.

“Staffers 13th month payable every October be restored and arrears paid without delay from October, 2019 to date respectively. Monthly general allowance to staff covering peculiarity, hazard, risk, and others last paid on May, 2019 should be paid without further delay. Accrued arrears of 30 months (May 2019 to October 2021should be paid without further delay.”

The staffers also noted that the above listed items were duly approved by the Federal Government through the appointment of Council headed by Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Silva in September 2018 which are due for review.

The striking staff also decried the state of infrastructure at the institution as well as the incessant commercial boat mishaps experienced by staffers and cadets, which they described as worrisome.

“Teaching and learning facilities such as classrooms, offices and library especially at Okerenkoko main Campus need urgent attention if the university is serious with the accreditation of her degrees.

Medical facilities should be defined beyond mere paracetamol dispensing centres. A well -equipped secondary health centre, befitting of an offshore university at the main campus should be established to address the healthcare needs within the shortest possible time. Pending the actualisation of the aforementioned demands, we hereby suspending our services for the institution indefinitely”, the workers also said.

Meanwhile in a six-paragraph statement, Registrar of the university, Dr. Alfred Mulade, said there was no iota of truth in the claims that the university was shut down by the staffers, insisting that such misinformation was the handiwork of mischief makers.

He noted that as a responsible management, it has made the welfare of the staffers an utmost priority and that it would continue to be and assured that both academic and administrative activities on campus are in full swing.

The Vice Chancellor, Professor Adigio, who also spoke in an exclusive telephone interview corroborated the position of the Registrar, insisting that the gates of the institution were wide open for teaching and learning as well as other administrative activities.

He however disclosed that many of the allowances being requested by the workers are not in tandem with the Federal Government Consolidated Salary Structure obtainable in all other Federal Government-owned universities across the country.

He further disclosed that some of such allowances were obtainable in the institution was it owned and managed by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency NIMASA, adding that as soon as the institution was taken over by the Federal Government, those allowances and salary structure were scrapped and realigned with the Consolidated Salary Structure, which is applicable for all other federal universities.

“I want to assure you that academic activities are in full swing and that the university is not shut down as claimed in some quarters. I am accessible and the management is open and so I speak with the staffers always. I enjoin the media to always seek clarifications so as not to publish distorted information to members of the public to mislead them, which some mischievous persons have been doing”, the VC also said.