Tag: Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics

ASUP Strike Paralyses Academic Activities At MAPOLY

ASUP Strike Paralyses Academic Activities At MAPOLYThe ongoing warning strike by the members of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has paralysed academic activities at the Moshood Abiola Polytechnic (MAPOLY) in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

Southwest Zonal Chairman of ASUP, Mr Olawale Olatunji, said that the union had resolved to embark on a warning strike at its emergency NEC meeting held on January 25.

He explained that the industrial action was to call the attention of the government to critical issues affecting polytechnics across Nigeria.

Mr Olatunji noted that the warning strike became imperative in view of the “unconcerned posture of the Federal Government” to issues raised towards revamping polytechnic education from imminent collapse.

“As it were, the union has been in negotiation with government on the situation in the polytechnic sector. Our agitations centred on the need not to allow polytechnic education head towards a state of collapse.

“Our agitations range from the need for the implementation of the ‘needs assessment’ that was done in 2014, victimisation of union leaders in our polytechnics (and) the release of whitepaper on the removal of the discrimination against HND holders; it is obvious the government is not being sincere about these issues.

“In July 2016, the union informed the government about its intention to down tool if those demands were not met, (but) the Minister of Education appealed.

“The union stepped down in November (while) another move was made and we gave the government up till the end of 2016 but when no action was taken, we have to resort to a warning strike to press home our demands,” the ASUP Zonal Chairman said.

ASUP Zone D Explains Why Members Will Down Tools

ASUP, Strike, PolytechnicsThe Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) Zone D chapter has threatened to embark on an indefinite strike on Sunday August 21.

This was contained in a communique released at the end a meeting held on August 16 in Owerri the capital of Imo State in southeast Nigeria.

As contained in the statement, the Zone D of ASUP, which consists of all the polytechnics in the south-east and South-south states of the federation, said it had become necessary to embark on the strike following the non-implementation of the needs assessment report in 2014.

Shortfalls In Allocations

“There have been shortfalls in personnel allocations to polytechnics as well as unpaid allowances in federal polytechnics since January 2016. Since the turn of the year, members’ salaries have been inconsistent without any plausible reason.

“To make matters worse, allowances negotiated with government and being earned since 2011 have not been paid.

“This is a wilful violation of our agreement with the government in 2010,” the statement further read.

ASUP further said that one of the reasons for the strike was the “non-release of arrears of promotion in many public polytechnics with some dating back to 2012 as well as non-implementation of the migration salary scale in many polytechnics”.

It also noted that the neglect faced by the polytechnic sector was a shameful one, as it had been a long and difficult one punctuated by long unproductive discussions with stakeholders, intermittent strike but with hardly any results.

ASUP further called on well-meaning Nigerians to prevail on the government at both the federal and state levels to comprehensively address these challenges in due course.

ASUP Threatens To Begin Nationwide Strike On August 22

ASUP, Strike, PolytechnicsThe Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has announced plans to embark on a nationwide strike starting from August 22.

The union vowed to commence the industrial action, if the Federal Government fails to honour the agreement it reached with the union in 2013.

ASUP President, Mr Usman Dutse, disclosed this to reporters on Thursday at the end of a Zone A emergency meeting of the union in Kaduna State, northwest Nigeria.

He lamented that since the suspension of the protracted strike in 2014, the government is yet to address some of the core issues that necessitated the strike.

Mr Dutse urged the government to as a matter of urgency, address these issues in order to avoid another nationwide industrial action.

A communique read by the Zone A Coordinator of ASUP, Kabir Yunusa, noted that no significant progress has been made by government in resolving the issues.

The statement highlighted the issues to include the non-implementation of Needs Assessment Report of 2014, non-payment of salaries in many state-owned institutions, delay in the review of the Polytechnic Act and poor funding of polytechnics among other demands.

The ASUP President said that despite giving the government enough time when it came on board last year to settle down and address all pending issues, the present administration has showed no concern about the plight of lecturers, whose salaries were being reduced or owed in most federal and state polytechnics.

ASUP Urges President Buhari To Probe Education Sector

asup The leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has urged the President to probe the funding of the education sector at all levels, stating that corruption, misappropriation and embezzlement of funds have been the major issue militating against the growth of the sector.

Speaking at an event organized by the Nekede Polytechnic Chapter of ASUP in Owerri, Imo State Capital, the National President of the Union, Comrade Chibuzor Asomuga, said the union totally supports the present crusade of federal government’s war against corruption.

Comrade Asomuga urged President Buhari to pay more attention to the education sector.

He added that the government needs to do a reappraisal of funding of institutions at every level and track how the funds have been utilized.

Also speaking on the agreement between ASUP and the Federal Government, Mr Asomuga said the former administration failed in achieving any of their  agreement, after many promises that made them call off the over 12 months strike in all the polytechnics last year.

He however urged the present government of President Buhari to be more sensitive to the agitations and plights of the union.

Kaduna Poly Lecturers Commence 3-Day Warning Strike

Kaduna PolyLecturers of Kaduna Polytechnic on Tuesday embarked on a three-day warning strike over the failure of the school management to yield to their demands.

Addressing journalists in Kaduna, Chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), Kaduna Poly chapter, Engr. Musa Ibrahim, said that the main reason for the three-day warning strike was the unjustifiable removal of their workload allowance by the management, as well as the poor state of infrastructure in the institution.

He further stated that there would be no lectures during the period of the strike, warning that the union shall resume an indefinite strike if at the end of the three days, the school management fails to restore their workload allowance and also address some other demands that are critical to their job.

The lecturers are also aggrieved over the delay in the full commencement of Kaduna Polytechnic and Yaba College of Technology Lagos as universities, nine years after the federal government announced their conversion into a University of Technology.

Reacting to the issues raised by the lecturers, the Rector of the Polytechnic, Dr Mohammed Ibrahim, described the allegation as untrue.

He explained that over N6 Million has been spent on the payment of the excess workload allowance to the lecturers despite inheriting over N1.5 billion debt when he came on board three years ago.

The Rector, while describing the strike by the lecturers as uncalled for, said that the management did not stop the payment of the excess workload allowance, but explained that what has delayed the payment of outstanding arrears is lack of funds.

He, however, appealed to the Kaduna Poly lecturers to suspend the strike, promising that their remaining allowances would be paid as soon as funds are available.

Polytechnic Lecturers Resume After 10 Month Strike

vlcsnap-2014-07-16-11h34m58s227Polytechnic lecturers over the country have resumed duty after embarking on a 10 month old strike was suspended to enable the new Minister of Education, Ibrahim Shekarau settle down in office.

Channels Television visited some Polytechnics around the country to capture the mood of students and lecturers as they gradually settle for a long break.

The Federal Polytechnic Nekede in Owerri, Imo State said they are set to resume academic activities as soon as students troop into their campus on the day of resumption.

The Deputy Rector of the polytechnic, Desmon Okparaku, said both the lecturers and students are happy to be back after the long strike.

However, in Yaba College of Technology, most of the students who were hoping to resume immediately were asked to hold as lecturers of the institution were hholding a meeting to make a decision on the next step.

A student of the Institution, who had checked the notice board to find some information about the called off strike, was told by his mates that the school authorities were having a meeting.

The ASUP Chairman, Yaba College of Technology, Lagos chapter, Mr Adeyemi Aromolaran, said the chapter formally announced officially that the 10 month old strike had been suspended for three months and urged lecturers to double their effort in gaining some of the lost period activities.

He further stated that “it will be wrong for people to believe that students should resume lectures today,” he said, explaining that the strike was called off today.

However students and lecturers said it was a right directive for the union to call off the strike.

 

ASUP Suspends Indefinite Strike, To Resume Tuesday

asup presidentThe Academic Staff Union of polytechnics ( ASUP) have suspended its over 10month old indefinite strike today, following a National Executive Council meeting of the union in Abuja on Friday.

The  Minister of Education, Ibrahim Shekarau had met with the leadership of the Union after which the ASUP National executive committee took the decision to shelve the protracted strike for three months.

President of the union, Mr. Chibuzo Azomugha who confirmed the suspension said all striking lecturers have been directed to resume work with effect from Tuesday the 15th of July, 2014.

“We have directed our chapters to hold congresses on July 14 to take decision and resume work on July 15,” he said.

“The suspension is for only three months to give the new minister some time as requested; we do not want to welcome him with strike. The minister has given us assurance and we want to give him the benefit of a doubt.

“After three months, we will appraise the development,” he added.

At the intervention meeting, Shekarau reminded the striking lecturers of the implication of their action which he said is not in the best interest of the nation.

ASUP raised issues including visitation of the white paper yet to be released by the Federal government and the report of the Needs assessment of Nigerian Polytechnics yet to be implemented since 2012.

The former Kano governor was sworn-in as minister by President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday and assumed duties on Thursday.

ASUP embarked on an indefinite strike in October 2013 over the deplorable state of government-owned polytechnics, monotechnics and colleges of technology.

The polytechnic lecturers also demanded the removal of dichotomy between HND and degree graduates and the release of the White Paper on the needs assessment of polytechnics

Other demands include review of the Polytechnic Act by the National Assembly, payment of CONTISS 15 arrears, improvement in condition of service and infrastructure in schools.

The federal government has met some of the demands, including the inauguration of governing councils and setting up of the needs assessment committees.

ASUP, COEASU Plans Protest On Tuesday 

Poly-Students-ProtestThere appears to be no end in sight for students of polytechnics and colleges of education to return to school as the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) and Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) announced plans to embark on a peaceful protest in Abuja on Tuesday.

At a joint news conference in Abuja on Sunday, the National President of the ASUP, Dr Chibuzor Asomugha and the Abuja chapter chairman of COEASU, Dr Ahymed Lawal, criticised the Federal Government’s refusal to implement agreements reached with the unions in order to suspend the indefinite strike.

The unions appealed to well-meaning Nigerians to prevail on the Federal Government to among other demands, address issues of funding, infrastructural development, dichotomy between polytechnic and university graduates and the harmonisation of working conditions for all lecturers in tertiary institutions.

They have been pushing this demands since April last year.

The Supervising Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike, had in a meeting in February with the union, accused it of thwarting government’s efforts at resolving the strike.

The government later set up another committee, headed by the Minister of Labour, Mr Emeka Wogu, and was yet to convince the striking lecturers.

ASUP had in April 22, 2013 embarked on a seven-day warning strike to push their demands and since then, they have refused to call-off the strike until pending issues had been resolved.

Nigeria Polytechnic Students Give Government Two Weeks To End Strike

Poly-Students-ProtestPolytechnic students in Kaduna, northern Nigeria, on Thursday, staged a peaceful protest, and gave the Federal Government a two-week ultimatum to resolve all issues with the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) or face the wrath of Nigerian students.

The students blocked some major streets in protest of the lingering strike embarked upon by ASUP, demanding the immediate resignation of the Supervising Minister of Education, Nyemson Wike, for failing to resolve all contending issues with the lecturers and also vowed not to support President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election in 2015.

The protest forced motorists and pedestrians stranded at the ever busy Muhammadu Buhari Way in the state capital. 

As early as 10:00am local time motorists and pedestrians had a hectic time, as the only road leading to the Muhammadu Buhari Way was barricaded by the students.

Marching slowly with placards of various inscriptions and chanting anti-government songs, the students moved down to the secretariat of the Kaduna State council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) located along the same road where they addressed journalists.

There, they lamented that the Federal Government was being insensitive to their plight while at the same time wasting public funds on meaningless ventures that had no positive impact to national development.

The strike which started on October 4, 2013 has brought uncertainty to their future and is capable of worsening the current security challenges.

As the strike lingers, the students say they may have no other choice than to storm Abuja, the nation’s capital and disrupt the ongoing National Conference if the Federal Government does not implement all agreements it reached with the polytechnic lecturers since 2009.

A student Leader, Salaudeen Lukman, demanded for the review of discrimination policy between polytechnic and university graduates, immediate source of 20 billion Naira required by ASUP and immediate conversion of the National Board for Technical Education to National Polytechnic Commission.

“It is very saddening that we have continued to be at home. The longer we stay at home the more we are exposed to risk,”  Lukman said

The students noted that the protest  was a warning to the Federal Government for unleashing hardship on them and cautioned that if ASUP and the Federal Government failed to reach a compromise that could lead to the reopening of the Polytechnics, they would have no other alternative than to embark on a nation-wide protest.

With their academic future being threatened by the over seven months old strike, the plight of the students is simple, that the Federal Government immediately reach a compromise with ASUP and to stop playing politics with education, especially technological and vocational education, which are the bedrock of a nation’s development.

ASUP Says Demands Are Not Just About Payment Of Arrears

ASUPThe Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has revealed that its ongoing strike is about several developmental problems in Nigeria’s polytechnics which the Minister of Education is deliberately ignoring.

National President of ASUP, Chibuso Asomugha, speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise, said that what the association has done was to call the attention of government to the deterioration in the polytechnics and strengthen the capacity of the schools in order to raise the integrity of the products of Nigerian polytechnics.

He said that the main issues they were agitating for include infrastructure, facilities, school categorization, payment of lecturers’ arrears, legal framework of polytechnics, and the integrity of the polytechnic graduates, but the Minister of Education has tried to narrow all the issues down to their financial demands.

Secretary General of ASUP, Usman Nda-Umar, who was also on the programme, said that the decision of the Minister to ignore other key issues was a deliberate action to blackmail the association. He revealed that at the last meeting held with the Minister, the association made it known that they wanted a discussion on other issues of concern but the Minister said no.

Asomugha also referred to the ill-fated Immigration recruitment exercise where it was alleged that Polytechnic graduates were categorised along with Secondary School Certificate (SSCE) holders and given the same exam, while university graduates were given a different exam; a development he said was among the major issues they are bent on fighting.

He further revealed that the Minister has been a major source of setback in the process of resolving the crisis in the system. He alleged acts of highhandedness and refusal to see reasons with the association.

Nda-Umar said that the Government has shown that it was not interested in technical education and for there to be a general change in the perception of Nigerians about the quality polytechnic education; the Government would have to lay the example.

ASUP Strike: Polytechnic Lecturers Vow To Continue

Polytechnic students across the country hoping to return to classes soon may have to spend more days at home.

At a news conference in Kaduna, President of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, ASUP, Dr Chibuzo Asomugha, accused the Federal Government of not showing concern over the consequences of the industrial action.

He blamed the Federal Government for failing to implement four out of eleven of the union’s demands which it had earlier agreed to.

They include the release of the white paper on the visitations to federal polytechnics, government’s implementation of CONTISS-15 (Consolidated Tertiary Institutions Salary Structure) migration for lower cadres and its arrears as from 2009, Needs Assessment of public polytechnics and constitution of the Governing councils of six federal polytechnics.

Asomugha, added that the union could only shift ground if Government showed serious and genuine commitment to the resolution of all contending issues.

For over six months, Polytechnic students across the country have been kept out of school.

The polytechnic teachers insist that they would stay away from classes until Government addresses all contending issues and take appropriate steps towards repositioning polytechnic education in the country.

 

FG Should ‘De-neglect’ Polytechnics – ASUP President

President of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP); Mr. Chibuzor Asomugha, has explained that the recent industrial action embarked upon by academic staff the nation’s polytechnics was due to failure of federal government to fulfill the agreement reached with the union in 2009. 

He added that there are also issues which the union has been holding talks with the government on for almost two years, hence the union was left with no option but to down tools.

Speaking on Channels Television breakfast show; Sunrise Daily, Mr. Chibuzor further explained that some of these issues have been lingering before he became the union’s President.

He listed some of the issues include re-negotiation of an agreement the union reached with the federal government in 2009, which provides in itself, that the agreement will be renegotiated in 2012 and signed in 2012.

Dr. Chibuzor explained that as early as February 2012, the issue was brought up to the government and as at now the committee for the renegotiation is yet to be set up.

Other issues are the migration of the lower cadres of the academic staff on a salary scale. According to him, the migration which started in 2009, took care of the upper echelon and left the lower cadre. He appealed to the government to complete the proceedings.

Dr Chibuzor also made the call for the establishment of the National Polytechnic Commission, noting that it’s only the polytechnic sector that doesn’t have its own commission as universities and colleges of education do.

He urged government at all levels to de-neglect polytechnics, saying the nation’s polytechnics have been “terribly neglected” and he  enjoined government to come to the table for negotiation.