The Council of Establishment comprising of all the Heads of Service of the 36 states of the federation and the Head of Service of the Federation have approved the removal of HND/BSc dichotomy, after a meeting held in Minna, Niger State, on Monday.
In a statement released on Tuesday by the immediate past Senate President of National Association of Polytechnic Students (NAPS) and Outgoing Regional President of West Africa Polytechnic Students Union (WAPSU), Ambassador S. A Lukman, he said: “This long overdue dichotomy which hindered the career progression of HND holders in civil service has been removed.”
After an exhaustive deliberation by the council, votes were cast. Those in favour of the removal and those against ended with tie votes of 16 against 16. But the Head of Service of the Federation, who presided over the meeting, voted in favour of the removal of the dichotomy after the tie, to earn those in favour the victory.
By that resolution, the embargo on HND holders’ career progression in the civil service has been lifted as the holders’ can now rise beyond Deputy Director in the civil service, and as well enjoy all sorts of benefits/promotions to the topmost rank due to BSc holders in the civil service.
Lukman who explained that this same Council was the sole obstacle for this struggle since 2005 when then president Olusegun Obasanjo pronounced the removal of this dichotomy, added that the Council called the then President’s statement a mere pronouncement without documentation and refused its adoption and implementation.
He also recalled that the last meeting of the Council, which was held at Ilorin, Kwara State Capital, witnessed heavy presence of Nigeria Polytechnic students which he personally led as the National Senate President of NAPS to the council, in protest for the need for the council to reconsider its position on the said matter.
He also recalled that a position paper was submitted after the protest as demanded by the then Head of Service of Federation, but unfortunately, the matter was not concluded at Ilorin until the Niger meeting.
He concluded that the students now look forward to immediate implementation by all states of the Federation, Federal Government Agencies and Departments, and called on all Polytechnic students to continue the celebration.
Lukman however, expressed gratitude to Heads of Service of states and that of the Federation; the Federal Ministry of Education; the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE); Council of Head of Polytechnic and Colleges of Technology (COHEADS); Academic Staff Union of Polytechnic (ASUP); past and present leadership of National Association of Polytechnic Students (NAPS) and by extension the Nigerians Union of journalist (NUJ) for their support all through the struggle. (News Express)