Omotolani Oresanwo
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The dust raised at the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), a parastatal of the Federal Ministry of Health, following staff members of the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) of the Institute Branch after 3-day warning strike from Monday August 17 to Wednesday August 19, 2015 is yet to settle.
The strike was embarked on to protest the high level of corruption, repressive and reckless management of the affairs of the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), Yaba, Lagos as evident in the evening primetime news broadcast of television stations that included Silverbird Television, Television Continental (TVC) and NTA Channel 10 Lagos and The Guardian newspaper of August 20 2015 (Page 32), August 21 2015 (Page 6) and August 24, 2015 (Page 3), and Daily Sun, August 27 (Page 29). Allegations levied against the Director General which are also available online at www.facebook.com/Etowalafe Staffs.
Paramount in the cause of the 3-day warning strike was the report that a substantial part of the 9-month arrears of the 12-month salary arrears for 2013 shortfall paid by government for disbursement to NIMR workers have been reportedly hijacked and diverted for other purposes by the Institute’s Director General. Of the 9-month salary arrears paid by government, only arrears for 3 months were paid to the workers in November 2013 with an outstanding 9-month salary arrears left unaccounted for. It is reported that the Federal Government has actually released the outstanding amount but the money due for the workers has been misappropriated by the Director General according to the Union.
On August 14, 2015, Etowalafe took to their facebook page and wrote, “All NASU (NIGERIAN INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL RESEARCH BRANCH) Staff hang in there. Those that support your cause are more than those that are against you. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED.
Your management must know that:
1. They cannot rob Peter to pay Paul.
2. They cannot deny people promotion or upgrading, so as to employ their people/relations, and they said NO VACANCY.
3. They cannot go on incessant trips, collect touring allowances from the government, even for personal trips, amounting to tens of millions naira yearly, then tell staffs that there is no money to repair the smallest chairs or doors.
4. The Institute cannot make hundreds of millions of naira every year in unremmitted IGR and still tell staff that there is no money for a group accident insurance scheme.
5. In Nigeria, there are civil/public service rules, code of conduct, and due process which must be observed for recruitment and awarding contract.
Prof. Ujah is reported to have signed an agreement with NASU on August 25, 2015 following the strike to pay the workers their entitlements contrary to his initial claims and denials at a press conference he had with journalists on Thursday August 20 2015 that the Budget Office in Abuja was yet to pay NIMR the money the workers were agitating for. He agreed to pay the workers spreading it over a period of 3 months starting from September to November 2015.
The DG of NIMR, and some top management staffs including the Director of Administration and Director of Finance have been guests at the Lagos office of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC). The Director General and other affected staff visited the ICPC on September 17 with a repeated visit on September 22 2015.
During the last visit to ICPC on September 22 2015, the Director General and his entourage went in a convoy of 3 vehicles early in the morning only to return to NIMR in the evening around 5.30 p.m. The Director of Administration could not appear before the ICPC because he has travelled to Saudi Arabia for Hajj.
The administration of Prof. Ujah from 2010 to date is alleged to be epitomised by corruption, nepotism, fraudulent employment of workers, gross impunity and disregard for public service regulations. InfoTrust reliably gathered that they are to make a re-appearance before the ICPC on October 6 2015.
The Director General is accused by the staff of mismanagement of NIMR’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) from sources that include the NIMR Consult, Human Virology Laboratory, Clinical Diagnostic Laboratory and HIV/ARV Clinic for incessant personal trips. Most trips are embarked on in flights of Business class.
Presently, InfoTrust gathered from sources that offices in NIMR lack basic stationery and consumables to work with as the Institute’s General Store is virtually empty of these basic items. Suppliers are owed a whooping sum of over N50 million of executed contracts to date. NIMR’s IGR that runs into about N40 million every month is never remitted to the Federation Account contrary to the Federal Government’s directive to all government agencies to do so prior to the Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy.
Other allegations against the Director General are employment without due process and back-dating of new appointments by as much as one year (12 months) in 2012 and 2014. The source speaking in confidence with InfoTrust disclosed that, “In December 2014 for example, about 70 workers who assumed duty in January 2015 were fraudulently employed into the Institute. The employment letters issued to these set of workers were back-dated to December 2013 and the salary arrears paid the new staff for the one year (2014) they did not work for were reported being refunded to an account number clandestinely given to each of these new staff to pay the money into”.
“The fraudulent exercise did not follow due process thus preventing serving staff from benefiting from the exercise as there was neither internal nor external advertisement to fill these positions. This fraudulent action of the Director General has caused a deliberate damage to the image of the Institute and federal government service through indulging young Nigerians with fraudulent practices by issuing them letters of employment dated 2013 whereas these ones assumed duty in January 2015, and they were never interviewed,” our source lamented.
Another source quipped, “hatred, harassment, intimidation and unlawful posting of Senior staff particularly Union leaders to out-stations as punitive measures is a common practice by the administration of Prof. Ujah.
“In 2014 for example, two union leaders were posted out. One to Kainji, in Niger State and the other to Maiduguri during the heating of insurgency by the Boko Haram-sect in this ravaged area of Borno State of North East Nigeria not minding the danger of this act to life to the staff. The staff was mandated by the Director General to report to Maiduguri or resign if unwilling to obey his order; an order which was eventually complied with by the affected staff to save his job.
It was also reported that the power and functions of the Anti-Corruption and Transparency Unit (ACTU) of the Institute in NIMR have been deliberately undermined and rendered ineffective by the antics of the Director General. The office space allocated to ACTU has long been converted to other use.
InfoTrust several calls to Prof Ujah’s mobile line was not answered, nor the text messages sent replied.
