Gabriel Dike
Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Polytechnics (SSANIP) National President, Philip Ogunsipe, has said the country is on auto pilot and needs to be rescued from the current situation.
Ogunsipe stated this, during SSANIP Zone F, South West meeting, at Lagos State Polytechnic, Ikorodu, which attracted zonal officers, chairmen and secretaries of senior workers of polytechnics in the South West.
He said: “This is a government that is not performing in every areas of the economy. This is a government that has no central coordinating agencies. We have a government that is disjointed.
“One will expect ministers appointed by the president to brief him quarterly or annually. Each minister is expected to prepared note and brief him. I want to believe this does not exist because if it does exist, there would have been an improvement in governance.
“I am sure in the last six years; there is no feedback by the various ministries and agencies to the presidency. That is why the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) members are on strike for eight months, no direct presidential intervention to address their demands. The presidency is not even asking what the problems are. Nigeria is on autopilot and those saddled with governance needs to take urgent action.
“ASUU is on strike for eight months, the president is not bothered about the implication. The president is not saying anything. Security challenges everywhere and we are not sayings he has not tried. When people are clamouring that the service chiefs have over stayed, changed them. We are not the one to appoint new ones. It is still the responsibility of the president to appoint new ones.”
Giving other reasons for the country being on autopilot, Ogunsipe said for over one year, Nigerians have been calling for the sack of all the service chiefs because of the unabated security challenges, the presidency ignored the calls.
Ogunsipe said those calling for sack of the service chiefs are not asking to be allowed to appoint new ones.
“It is the responsibility of the president to pick new ones if he listens to the numerous calls by Nigeria.
“When we say the country is on autopilot, it seems the president is not concern about what is happening in the country. Look the Zamfara Gold Mine issue and even the recent increase in pump price of petrol. When negotiation is still ongoing with labour leaders, government hiked petrol to N170. Obviously, the country is on autopilot,” he said.
According to him, every sector of the economy is having issues without presidential intervention and wondered whom the ministers are accountable to.
He observed that the education sector is worse hit because of the type of people at the helms of affairs of the ministry and its agencies. He insisted that until the right people are appointed to man the sector, it will continue to experience total neglect.
Ogunsipe recalled that SSANIP wrote over 20 letters about its demands which were not attended to but government officials scrambled to invite the union after the expiration of ultimatum.