Dismissed Ondo workers reject Gov Akeredolu’s reinstatement offer, give reasons

The 59 Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, workers, who were recently sacked by Ondo State government have rejected an offer by Governor Rotimi Akeredolu to reinstate them into the state’s civil service.

The government had sacked the workers, who were teachers at the Polytechnic’s Staff Primary and Secondary School on the claims that the school management lacked the financial capacity to run the schools and that it planned to privatise them.

However, the state government, a few days ago announced that it had reabsorbed the sacked 59 workers.

The announcement came after the chairman of the governing council of the school, last week, during a meeting with the representatives of the institution’s chapter of the Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Polytechnics, said that Akeredolu had ordered that the sacked workers be reabsorbed into the civil service.

But in their response, the 59 dismissed workers, in a letter to the governor refused the offer.

In the letter they sent to the governor through their counsel, Banjo Ayenakin, the workers explained why they rejected the offer.

Their letter read, “While our clients appreciate the gesture and interest of the Ondo State governor, the planned redeployment or transfer of service is clearly unacceptable to our clients.

“To put the record straight, our clients were employed by RUGIPOLY at different times; they had their appointments regularised and confirmed by the governing council of the institution. Our clients were subsequently promoted by virtue of their commitment, industry and hard work to the institution.

“It was a rude shock when our clients were given mass retrenchment or disengagement under the guise that the schools were not yielding enough revenue and that the management intended to privatise the institution.”

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“The offer to redeploy or transfer our clients to the Ondo State Teaching Service Commission is contrary to the conditions of appointment of our clients and the said redeployment is a ploy to demote our clients and subject them to psychological trauma.

“It must be noted that the conditions of employment of our clients; among which are grade level and year of retirement in the two services are different. While the non-teaching staff of RUGIPOLY retires at age 65; those of the teaching service commission retire at 60.”

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