The National Centre for Technology Management (NACETEM) is losing its best hands fast. Reason: alleged high-handedness by its chief executive officer, which has pitted him against the workers. Hit by the brain drain, the centre, once regarded as the flagship of technology management is battling to stay alive.

At exactly midday on March 3, a loud chorus of solidarity songs erupted frothe Conference Hall of the National Centre for Technology Management (NACETEM) at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) in Ile-Ife. Led by the Osun State executive members of the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU), the staff and management were basking in the euphoria of the inauguration of their union at the Centre. It was also a turnaround in the frosty relationship that existed between the management and staff at the Centre.

NACETEM’s Director-General and Chief Executive Officer (DG/CEO), Prof. Okechukwu Ukwuoma, who was a guest at the event, took the stage to give his goodwill message and advice to the incoming executives after which he said the rights to “proscribe the union” if the need arises, remains his prerogative. “The union can be proscribed if need be, then the leaders would be fighting from outside rather than inside the organisation,” he said as he insisted that he was also a former unionist with many years of “activism” under his belt.

Not a few in the hall were shaken by Ukwuoma’s frank admission and the Executive Secretary, Emmanuel Adekoya, quickly took the floor while “correcting” Ukwuoma, insisted the union is backed by law and cannot be proscribed. Despite the mild drama, the inauguration ended on a cordial note and NACETEM had new officers. Olumide Fadakinte and Joy Uwasomber were elected chairman and secretary respectively.

He said: “The destiny of one is the destiny of all, the time of silence is over,” Fadakinte said in his acceptance address. “There was an agency and how we lost that agency is not for us to tell but how to recover the agency we lost. Management is our friend as long as they put our interest and that of this organisation before any other interest.”

A season of anomie

To many observers, the inauguration of NACETEM’s chapter of NASU meant a lot. For almost three years, peace eluded the agency as a friction between management and members of staff reached breaking point. Some of the workers told our correspondent in confidence that it was tortuous journey for union to come into being and that its immediate task is how to rid the agency of its undesirable elements, chief among which is the DG/CEO.

They accused Ukwuoma of incompetence and lack of capacity, unwillingness to improve the lot of the agency and insensitivity to workers’ plights, alleging that the agency has fallen apart without direction and therefore unable to fulfill its lofty mandate. Other weightier accusations including alleged connivance with the Board of Directors – now dissolved – in unleashing a reign of illegalities that triggered “brain drain” from the agency.

NACETEM, established in 1992 under the United Nations Education and Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), was initiatiated to serve as the science and technology centre of the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology. It was designed to be the software component of Nigeria’s science and technology endeavours. The development of the required expertise for effective management of science, technology and innovation and active engagement in policy research, design, evaluation and review, were parts of the centre’s mandate.

And in conjunction with relevant varsities, the agency awards the Masters degree in Technology Management Degree and runs other workshops and short courses.

Our correspondent learnt that until recently, NACETEM was fulfilling its core mandates under different directors since its inception, bringing in the best brains in science and technology and helping to get the country on the global map technological innovations. That spree stopped with the inauguration of a governing board and the appointment of Prof. Ukwuoma, “through a flawed process.”

On October 22, last year, a petition against Ukwuoma’s leadership style was delivered to the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Science & Technology in Abuja.

Titled: “ NACETEM under Professor Okechukwu Ukwuoma, a total failure – Call for urgent investigation into various events in the  National Centre for Technology Management ( NACETEM) Ile-Ife,” the petition,  was written by a group which identified itself as “Ife Youth Vanguard”. It was signed on by Messrs Oladimeji Tajudeen and Akintola Jeleel in their capacities as chairman and secretary respectively.

The group alleged that NACETEM under Ukwuoma, was “a shadow of its old image and now retarding rather than progressing. ”It also alleged an “unholy alliance” between the Director-General and the dissolved governing board, victimisation of senior members of staff, back door recruitment of personnel,  manipulation of the IPPIS database to accommodate new recruits and visionless leadership with a view to destroying the agency.

In their petition it was reveal that the aggrieved workers urged the Ministry to investigate all allegations leveled against the director. When confronted with the allegations, Ukwuoma dismissed the petition as the handiwork of some disgruntled members of staff, who he said, were out to tarnish his image. But, Tajudeed disagreed that the etitioners were being influenced to bring down the CEO.

In a telephone interview, he said his organisation was carrying out oversight function on NACETEM and was not being used by any employee of the agency. Tajudeen said he had wanted to take the Masters course in 2013 but could not due to the problems in the agency, which forced him into investigating the remote and immediate cause of the problems.

He said: “We have oversight functions on the agencies and parastatals in our community; you challenged my authority to write a petition and that is the problem with Nigeria; you believe that once the government has set up an agency that should be the end of it.

“Even if the agency or organisation is going bad, you will not do anything. In 2004/2005, I took up the challenge on the atrocities that were going on at the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital and some of the changes you find there now happened because of our intervention, you can go and verify.”

But, the Ministry of Science and Technology neither acknowledged nor responded to the petition, a development that forced the group to forward another petition to the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) on November 13, last year.

The anti-graft agency replied on December 4, last year. In the reply signed by M.M. Abdullahi, the ICPC promised to look into the allegations.

On January 27, the group forwarded another petition to the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, urging him to “give the petition the attention it requires before we resort to the media.”

Alleged recruitment scam, forgeries and victimisation

Trouble began after the exit of Dr. Willie Siyanbola in November 2013. The agency was said to have attained its glorious heights under Syanbola’s directorship. Siyanbola, then an Associate Professor, held a Ph.D in Solid State Physics.

“This Centre prospered during the time of Siyanbola, we became the cynosure of other agencies. It was the former DG that went in search of the best brains, brought them here and made this place a robust research institute where ideas and creativity was the hallmark,” a senior officer recalled.

NACETEM has had its fair share of ingenious leadership. For instance, the first CEO, Prof. S.A Sanni, was the first professor of Chemical Engineering in Africa.

But the choice of Siyanbola’s successor fell on the Governing Board, which was instituted for the agency on November 7, 2013.  Members of the Board included: Senator Ben Collins Ndu (chairman); Chief Douglas Naigba, Mrs. Goodluck Ogbogu and Mrs. Ladi Maman Watilla.

The Board’s choice of Muhammed Sanni, a Higher National Diploma (HND) holder as Siyanbola’s replacement fueled discontent among the more qualified candidates.

Sanni held sway until September 2014, when Ukwuoma was named as the CEO by the Board. But the new helmsman soon fell out of favour with members of staff, who saw him as “incompetent and a stooge of the Board.”

 At the headquarters of the agency, The Nation interacted with some aggrieved members of staff, who accused Ukwuoma of running the agency aground.  Volunteering information under the condition of anonymity, they claimed the once glorious agency would soon completely fall apart unless the minister intervened.

Independent investigations by The Nation revealed a deep-seated contempt for Ukwuoma by members of staff, who they said lacked the capacity to reposition the agency.

According to some senior officers, the process that produced Ukwuoma was neither free nor fair but stage-managed by the dissolved Board to bring in a stooge.

They described Ukwuoma’s administration as being characterised by victimisation, undue transfers of key personnel and exodus of the best hands.

According to them, more than 10 Ph.D. holders resigned in frustration while other workers left for other opportunities.

“A former head of Technology Management, Education and Training was frustrated by the DG and Board that he resigned. A former  head of the account department  was posted to Enugu and a junior made her boss, many others were posted out or to other departments where they do not have core competence. Those who have been trained by NACETEM were forced to resign. The DG always tells us that he was the Jonathan of this place,” an aggrieved worker claimed.

Other senior personnel were said to have been victimised. Their  salaries were allegedly withheld for seven months. Two of them were  allegedly forced to resign after being victimised by the board and the director.

But, more vexatious, according to them were the series of “illegal appointments” carried out by the board and the director between 2013 and 2015. These appointments were allegedly without the approval of either the ministry or the Budget Office.

A document made available to The Nation, said no fewer than 59 men were hired during this period without recourse to the rules.

In February 2014, during the administration of  Muhammed Sanni, NACETEM had employed 45 workers  and the  acting director had through a circular NCTM/C474, dated  February 18, 2014, informed all the zonal Heads of the employment with positions across Research, Planning, Administration, Accounting and Executive cadres.

But, after the appointment of Ukwuoma in 2014, another set of workers were employed and in 2015, 27 new employees were given letters of employment in flagrant disregard for institutional processes.

Said an angry worker: “The problem is that this appointment was done in secret, there was never any record of interview taking place, there were no approvals from the parent ministry. Nobody can remember any advertisement for these positions neither was there any advertisement to that effect.”

Despite the ‘shoddiness’ of the process, on  October 15, 2015, a memo was raised from the Head, Human and Resources Management Department to the director asking that 27 new workers be incorporated into the  payroll of NACETEM. The memo was forwarded to the accounts department.

Ukwuoma said in the memo: “I confirm that this list has been approved and IPPIS is coming to physically capture them. I approve that you enlist and include them in the NACETEM payroll.”

According to investigations, the employments did not enjoy the approval of the parent ministry.

According to the 2016 Budget Call circular of September 29, last year, under Guideline B, only workers on the nominal roll as at June 30 must be listed on the payroll.

 The circular with the title: “Preparation of the 2016 FGN budget proposal: The review/update of the MDAs’ nominal rolls and computation of the 2016 personnel cost estimate,”  reads:  “ The current nominal roll as at 30th June, 2015 should be used. Only persons employed in the public service of the Federal Government should be on the nominal roll.”

The petitioners alleged that in order to make allocations for the recruited workers, Ukwuoma allegedly tried to withdraw the original nominal list submitted by his agency and replace it.

“The DG/CEO went on his own volition to withdraw the officially endorsed and submitted nominal list from the FMST with a view to replacing it with another nominal roll which included the names of the illegally recruited staff. This was done with  the aid of an officer. Efforts are ongoing in the camp of the DG/CEO to recall the appointments letters issued to the appointees and replace them with backdated versions,” the group said.

Some of the appointment letters shown to The Nation were issued on July 3, last year.

More worrisome to the workers was the allegation that those who were employed had no prior experience “neither are they scientists nor researchers.”

Sources within the agency claimed the new employees who had only first degrees were given positions higher than those who have doctorate degree.

“How can you justify a situation where a BSc holder will be given CONRAISS 15 while a doctorate holder was employed on CONRAISS 8 and just promoted to nine? The director said the new staff was to replace those who were frustrated out but what is the level, experience and competence of those who left compared to those you are bringing in? Can they do the job of those who left when they had no experience whatsoever?” a source queried.

The source claimed that since Ukwuoma resumed, no single project has been done at the headquarters. Most of the programmes usually conducted were cancelled while morale of the remaining workers remains low.

“He is busy travelling because of the per diem that he will collect, if there has been one programme at the headquarters, he should come out and tell us. But, I know he cannot because I am telling you the truth,” one of the sources said.