Striking polytechnic lecturers in Nigeria say they will embark on a ‘massive protest’ in the capital city of Abuja next week.

On a radio program, Political Platform, on Ray Power FM on Friday, the President of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) Chibuzor Asomugha, expressed his union’s frustration at the Federal Government’s handling of the six-month-old strike.

The union president said the the government had not acted on the decision reached at the last meeting between the government and the striking lecturers held on March 26 in Abuja and attended by the Labour Minister, Emeka Nwogu and the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Abdulwaheed Omar.

ASUP had rejected the mediation of the Acting Education Minister, Emeka Wogu, accusing him of frustrating the negotiation process.

“We made further concessions at the last meeting. We agreed to a two-instalment payment of the agreed salaries and allowances and the setting up of an inter-ministerial committee to review the other contentious issues,” Mr Asomugha said.

According to him, the meeting agreed that the government delegation would brief President Goodluck Jonathan and come up with a Memorandum of Understanding that will be signed by both parties this week.

The proposed mass protest is hinged on the fact that since the March 26 meeting, the government had not acted on the decision or gotten back to the lecturers.

“The planned protest will involve market women, students, lecturers and labour unions who are all concerned with how the Federal Government is treating polytechnic education in Nigeria,” Mr Asomugha said, without mentioning the day of the week the protest would begin.

He, however, said the union was still seeking an amicable solution to the strike and had written to the Senate President, David Mark and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, to intervene in the strike.

He said that the Senate President had replied, saying he would intervene after conclusion of work on the 2014 budget, which was passed by the Senate on Wednesday and by the House on Thursday.

ASUP has been on strike since October 3, 2013 with an initial 13 demands that was negotiated to four.

The four key issues are; the need for a constitution of the Governing Councils of Federal Polytechnics, the migration of the lower cadres on the CONTISS 15 salary scale, the release of the White Paper on the Visitations to Federal Polytechnics, and the need for the commencement of the Needs Assessment of Nigerian Polytechnics.