Polytechnics: ASUP vows to continue strike

Polytechnic teachers in the country rose from their emergency meeting in Enugu Wednesday and vowed to continue their six-month-old strike until their demands were met.

The teachers, who met under the auspices of Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) of Nigeria, said governments have paid deaf ears to the strengthening of legal and institutional frameworks for the actualisation of the mandates of Nigerian polytechnics.

Reading a statement from the Enugu meeting, ASUP's National Vice President, Usman Y. Duste, added that the strengthening of the capacity of teaching staff to enable them actualise their mandate, as well as decimating the age-long discrimination against the sector and its products, were part of the demands of the association.

He listed other issues at the centre of the present crisis to include the need for the constitution of governing councils of federal polytechnics, release of the white paper on visitations to federal polytechnics, worrisome state of state-owned polytechnics, especially Abia State polytechnic, where the state government had not paid salaries of workers in the past seven months and Institute of Management and Technology (IMT), Enugu, where there were on-going efforts to cripple the union, as well as commencement of NEEDS assessment of Nigerian polytechnics.

Duste added that the non-commencement of the renegotiation of the FGN/ASUP agreement as contained in the signed agreement and the continued recognition of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) as the regulatory body of Nigerian polytechnics are against the union's repeated calls for the establishment of a National Polytechnics Commission.

He said there was also the refusal of most state governments to implement the approved salary package (CONPCASS) for their polytechnics and monotechnics, as well as the 65 years' retirement age.

He stated that the Act establishing polytechnics in the country had become obsolete and had not captured certain polytechnics like the Auchi Polytechnic, stressing that the continued reliance on the Act would render some institutions illegal.

He said: 'What baffles our union and other well-meaning stakeholders in the sector is the failure of our leaders to appreciate the technological challenges posed by global trends, replicate and improve on them. The history of our struggle with government, which led to the current strike, is long and detailed. As far back as February 2012, our union had brought the issues in contention to the attention of government. Following government's inaction over these demands, the union issued a 30-day ultimatum in December 2012, which expired on January 31, 2013. Despite the expiration of the ultimatum, our union went ahead and gave ample opportunity to government to enable it address the issues.

Unfortunately, government's disposition portrayed nothing but lack of commitment'.

He added that the union had in March 2013, through its NEC, issued another 21-day ultimatum, which expired in April and leading to a declaration of one-week warning strike, adding that the intervention of well-meaning Nigerians led to the suspension of the strike.

'After two months of suspension of strike, government met only two of the demands and has continuously evaded the remaining issues for no clear cause. Three months into the issue of on-going strike, government has remained insensitive to the reasons', he said.

He stated that until the issues were addressed, the polytechnic teachers would not return to work.