Mrs Ekanem: Head of Service of the Federation

The Joint Union Association of Head of Service of the Federation on Wednesday embarked on peaceful protest over poor welfare, lack of training and working materials and slash in Sallah bonus at the Federal Secretariat, Abuja.

A member of the union, who pleaded anonymity, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that they were usually paid N25,000 as bonus every Sallah, Easter or Christmas celebrations but they have not received anything since the last Sallah (Eid-el-Fitr).

According to him, they were expecting to be paid N50, 000 this forthcoming Sallah (Eid-el-Kabir) because of the outstanding bonus, rather it has been slashed to N15,000.

He added that in the last seven years, none of their staff had been trained, stating that training was the bane of the civil service.

Another protester complained that out of the 16 lifts in the federal secretariat, only one was working, while promotion arrears have not been paid.

She added that, there was no staff bus to convey staff to work, working computers were retrieved and auctioned but had not been replaced.

“They have been promising but nothing, we buy working materials with our money to ensure the job is done, there are no materials in the store.

“We use our money to photocopy documents at business centres and the toilets are appalling, they need maintenance.”

Mr Ikediashi Uzoh, President of the Joint Union, said the protest was not pre-planned as it broke out after a meeting with the management this morning.

“The management after a second meeting has agreed to meet the request of the staff immediately, hopefully by the end of this week,” he said.

Mr Afolayan Olaniyi, Permanent Secretary, Common Services Office(CSO), Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF), who addressed the protesting staff said that management had agreed to the terms of the union.

Olaniyi said that, they contacted the Head of Service of the Federation, Mrs Winifred Oyo-Ita, who was at the Federal Executive Council meeting and she agreed to their demands.

According to him, Oyo-Ita had agreed to address the issues raised by union.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the protest was held at Block A of the secretariat as senior members of staff were hindered by the protesters from carrying out their jobs.

NAN also gathered that the joint union was made up of three unions namely: Nigeria Civil Service Union, Association of Senior Civil Service Union and the Secretaries Union at the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation.