By Ishola Balogun
At the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), the corridors once alive with the hum of discovery now echo with uncertainty. Professors and Research Fellows—men and women who have dedicated decades to probing Nigeria’s most pressing health challenges—find themselves staring at eviction notices and premature retirement letters. Their crime? Serving more than eight years as Directors in a system where tenure rules were never meant to apply to them.
The dispute stems from the Federal Government’s policy providing for eight-year tenure for Directors in the Federal Public Service. Prof. John Obafunwa, Director-General of NIMR, moved to enforce the Federal Government’s eight-year tenure policy on academic and research cadre Directors.
But the union’s position is that the policy was never intended to retire Research/Academic Cadre Directors who are essentially career researchers and professors.
The Academic Staff Union of Research Institutions, ASURI points to a definitive clarification issued by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF) on November 29, 2014.
