John Adams, Minna
The crisis rocking the Scientific Equipment Development Institute (SEDI) Minna, Niger State, is far from over as the staff union has threatened to resist any attempt by the government to reappoint the Managing Director of the institute, Prof. Mohammed Ndaliman, for a second term in office.
Ndaliman had completed his first four-year term in May last year and Dr. Abdullahi Saba, a staff of the institute, was appointed as acting Managing Director.
But the institute’s staff union under the aegis of the Joint Research and Allied Institutions Sector Unions (JORAISU) has threatened to “deploy all necessary arsenal within the industrial ambit of the law to resist any attempt at the imposition of a candidate that will undermine research and development as well as the fresh air of peace that the institute is currently enjoying.”
The union stated this in a letter “Rejection of the renewal of tenure of Prof. Mohammed Ndaliman as Managing Director/Chief Executive of SEDI, Minna for the second term in office.”
The union in the letter signed by Chinedu Ugwu Lawrence and Ahmed Danladi alleged that the four years of Ndaliman at the helm of affairs of the institute was a disaster.
They said the decision to issue a warning on the re-appointment of Ndaliman was informed by the information that the former managing director was attempting to launch a come back.
“Therefore, this reminder and call is to convey to NASENI management and relevant stakeholders as well as members of the public our earlier affirmation and unwavering stands on no renewal of tenure for Prof. Ndaliman. Any attempt to impose the former managing director on the institute will lead to us shutting down the institute to show that research institutes cannot be taken for granted,” the union said.
All attempts to get the reaction of the embattled managing director on the allegations failed as he was not picking phone calls put across to him.