Provost appointment sparks protest at Plateau College

Protesting employees of the Plateau State College of Health Technology, Pankshin, closed the health facility on Thursday under the auspices of the Joint Union of Plateau State Owned Tertiary Institutions.

The PUNCH heard the protest that began Wednesday resumed Thursday morning when workers barricaded the gate and prevented vehicles from entering or leaving the campus.

The situation would have grounded activities on campus and left students stranded.

Many of the students who had waited in vain for their classes in the morning were then seen returning home The PUNCH correspondent visited the institution on Thursday around 1.30 pm.

The aggrieved workers were also seen marching through the campus towards the gate carrying placards with various inscriptions, some of which read: “College of Health Technology, Pankshin is not a welfare ground for politicians”, “Council’s position on the appointment of the provost must be be respected”, “College of Health Pankshin, Oil Well for Plateau Government Officials”, “Appointment of Dr. Among others “Casual and Agency Workers: No Fees Above 40 Months and No Hiring”.

The president of the Joint Union of Plateau State Tertiary Owned Tertiary Institution, Gokir Fwenshinen Ayuba, accused the Governor Simon Lalong-led government of destroying the health facility without regard to the law governing the college.

Ayuba, insisting that the workers would not accept the reappointment of the college’s provost, Dr Prince Fwanje, vowed to continue the protest until their demands were met.

The union leader said: “We say it out loud to the community hearing here in Pankshin and to the government hearing that enough is enough. We are tired of the current leadership in the College of Health Technology Pankshin. This administration has remained for four years and there has been no reasonable development in the institution. What we’ve had is just an increase in school fees every year and we’ve seen nothing done with it.

“As employees of this institution, we say that if the government has any sympathy for us and for this noble institution, the oldest College of Health Technology in Nigeria and the West African sub-region, it should come to our aid because the college is more like a kindergarten and we can’t go on like this. We want to grow and we want the government to intervene in this matter so that we can get leaders to come and develop the healthcare facility. By the time we allow leaders to keep coming and milking the institution’s meager resources and just keep going, our problem will remain. We want a precedent set now so that any leader who comes here from now on should know to be ready.

The chairman of the Non-Academic Staff Union at the institution, James Lohnan, who also denounced the government’s stance on the matter, added: “As a union, we have met with the State Higher Education Commissioner about the need for due process to be followed in the appointment of another provost to the college this time, because the college’s 2003 law, published in 2005 in part 4, section 12 (2 and 3) states that:

“There shall be a provost for the college who shall be appointed from within the college by the governor on the advice of the council or that the governor on the advice of the council may appoint the provost from outside the college if there is no person within the college is qualified to be so appointed.

“We left the meeting with the commissioner with assurances that they will comply with the law, only for us to hear an announcement that the same person who is an outsider and whose leadership is not helping the college has been reappointed as the provost of the college in violation of the law

“We say that his reappointment is unacceptable to the employees because his appointment went against the recommendation of the board of directors and moreover we have qualified and competent persons within the institution who will lead the college. So we want the government to respect the law”

The PUNCH reports that the Plateau State Commissioner for Higher Education, Prof. Bernard Matur, last week announced the reappointment of Dr. Prince Fwanje as provost of the college following the expiration of his four-year initial term.

When contacted to discuss the workers’ protest, the commissioner and the newly appointed provost were not available at the time of completing this report because their phones had been switched off.