…As rector, registrar, staff engage in war of attrition

From Okey Sampson, Aba

Abia State College of Health Sciences and Management Technology, Aba (ASCOHSTECH), Abia State, was founded in 1948 by the colonial masters with the name, School of Health Technology, which the natives shortened to “School of Health,” to provide ancillary health courses.

In 2009, the name was changed to ASCOHSTECH, with the aim of widening its academic scope in tandem with changing times. However, despite this change in nomenclature, the school still remains a glorified secondary school, people say.

It was in order to put the school on sound footing that Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu, on June 10, 2016, drafted Prof. Chidi Ezeama from Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, (MOUAU), to head it. But with what has been happening since then, the governor’s good intention appears to have been receiving negative impact. Since things started to fall apart, it has been one internal crisis after the other, and these have, indeed, impaired growth of the institution.

The intractable crisis began in January, 2017 when the workers complained against what they described as the rector’s nepotism with employment, accusing him of employing his wife, daughter and son-in-law among others, in one swoop even when the school has no money to pay the salaries of existing workers, some of whom were being owed for several months.

The crisis came to a head on May 25, 2017, when over 120 workers of the institution staged a protest which temporarily disrupted the day’s Council sitting. The reason for the protest as enunciated by the workers were: non-confirmation of staff appointment, non-promotion, non-representation of the staff in the Council as provided by the law establishing the school and seizure of salaries of their members, allegedly, at the behest of a head of department of the institution, and the most contentious of them all: the alleged employment of over 100 workers while salary arrears amounting to over six months remain unpaid.

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In an attempt to treat the sore, chairman of the Council, Chris Ezem, a lawyer, while addressing the protesting workers, noted that their requests were legitimate and urged them to remain calm with a promise to look into their complaints. While he denied knowledge of the indiscriminate employment in the school, he was reported to have immediately approved that staff representative be elected to the Council. The Council chairman also gave hope to the workers by promising prompt payment of their salary arrears. He, however, said that matters concerning non-promotion and confirmation of works would be handled in piecemeal until they are cleared.

But in what looked like making a mess of the chairman’s peace move, on June 5, 2017 the rector compiled a list of 24 staff and sent a memo to the Registrar of the college, directing her to issue queries to them for embarking on the said protest.

Smelling some trouble, the registrar wrote back to advise the rector to tread carefully: “Please while not aligning myself with the behaviour of some staff of the College during the last Council meeting, I have carefully considered the negative consequences of issuing query to some of them and wish to advise that the matter be put on hold for now as it would amount to selective punishment since it is difficult to identify all of them,” she wrote.

“What should be more important is to stem the tide by engaging the leadership of the union in a discussion to find a near lasting solution with a view to avoiding a reccurrence. I honestly crave your indulgence to consider positively this advice in the interest of peace and harmonious working relationship within the ambience of the College.”

This advice did not go down well with Prof. Ezeama who insisted that the queries must be issued as directed. When it appeared the registrar was foot-dragging over the matter, the rector came down heavily on her, by issuing her query, on June 15, 2017. for her failure to carry out his directive.

Although Campus Sun is not privy to the way the matter was eventually disposed, Ezem assures that everything has now been amicably settled.