Nigerian Polytechnics May Embark On Fresh Strike Next Week

Polytechnics in Nigeria are gearing for a fresh round of strikes after the federal government failed to address a “single thing” in their agreement, the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, ASUP said on Tuesday.

Speaking at a mass protest organized in Lagos to call government’s attention to the poor state of public education, Chibuzo Asomugha, stated that a fresh strike is inevitable.“The time we gave after the suspension of the strike will expire next week and up till now government has not done any single thing in the agreement,” Mr. Asomugha, ASUP’s National President, said.

“We joined this protest because we want to identify with the spirit of the Nigerian people to prevent the decay in the education sector,” he added.

Last month, ASUP suspended its nearly three month old strike after the intervention of the Joint Committee of the Senate and House of Representatives on Education.The committee had said that it would liaise with the relevant government ministries, agencies, and parastatals with a view to tackling all the union’s demands.

ASUP had embarked on a nationwide industrial action on April 29, 2013, to force government to carry out a comprehensive overhaul of polytechnics across Nigeria.

Some of the union’s concerns include the failure to constitute Governing Councils of federal polytechnics; snail speed of works on the amendment of the Federal Polytechnics Act/Scheme of Service; and the worrisome state of State owned polytechnics in the country.Other concerns are the refusal of most state governments to implement the approved salary packages (CONPCASS) for their polytechnics, and the 65 years retirement age; as well as the continued appointment of unqualified persons as Rectors and Provosts of Polytechnics, Monotechnics, and Colleges of Technologies by some state governments, among others.

The union had given the government representatives one month to accede to its demands.The ASUP boss accused the federal government of insensitivity because “they do not have their children in the polytechnics.”“Government should stop paying lip service to public education. The closer you get to this people in government, the more you lose hope,” Mr. Asomugha said.