Dr Julie Momah, the Director, South-West Zone, National Board for Technology Incubation (NBTI) has appealed to the government to intervene in the ongoing strike by research institutes across the country.
Momah made this appeal while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Abuja.
“The strike is affecting the productivity of entrepreneurs in all the incubation centres in the country because the centres are not working in their full capacities.
“It is also affecting the economy of the country because output from the centres is very low now and the staff morale is also low.
“So I cannot force them; I can only appeal to them; I cannot say you must come to work today but generally it actually affects the socio-economic situation in South West.
“Because we are the last stage of commercialising R & D, we meet the public regularly, so they really are feeling the impact, even the training we give to entrepreneurs have reduced due to the strike,’’ she said.
Momah said most of the entrepreneurs were feeling the impact of the strike as the staff usually helped them to market their products and to solve some of their problems.
“We also help them to get NAFDAC approval for their products after assisting them with the packaging, label design, business plan and patenting.
“All these activities are at a standstill now because of the strike, so the government should please come to our aid and end it.
“We just have to have a rethink about it, although we are fighting a good cause but we need to balance it so that the masses and the entrepreneurs do not suffer,’’ she said.
Mr Suberu Ariboh, the Centre Manager, Ilorin NBTI said the strike was taking its toll on activities in the incubation centre as only the management staff were at work.
He said this had affected the output of entrepreneurs generally and urged the government and the striking unions to quickly come to a compromise.
Ariboh, who appealed for a speedy end to the strike, also called for better funding for research activities in the country, which he said was part of the reasons for the strike.
Other demands are implementation of arrears in salary, establishment of a coordinating body for research and development institutions, retirement age elongation to 65 years and increased funding were part of the agreement.
The Joint Research and Allied Institutions Sector Unions (JORAISU), made up of the Senior Staff Association of Universities, Teaching Hospitals, Research Institutes and Allied Institutions (SSAUTHRIAI), Academic Staff Union of Research Institutes (ASURI) and the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) have been on strike since November 2017. (NAN)
