Polytechnic lecturers, under the auspices of the
Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP),
will begin a nationwide one-week warning strike
from Monday next week.
Already, the union has directed its members in
all public polytechnics across the federation to
ensure total compliance.

Addressing a press conference in Abuja on
Wednesday, President of ASUP, Usman Dutse,
said there would be no academic and
administrative activity any public polytechnic
between 12 noon of 30 January, 2017 and 6
February, 2017.

He said: “The union therefore resolved at the
emergency meeting of the National Executive
Council (NEC), held on the 25 January 2017 to
embark on a one week warning strike effective
12 noon, January 30, 2017 to 6 February 2017
in the first instance.

“Members are therefore directed to ensure total
compliance as no academic and administrative
activity is expected in any public polytechnic
across Nigeria within the period; and await
further directives from the union’s organs.”

Comrade Dutse pointed out that the union had
on two occasions in July and November last
year communicated the decision of its NEC to
withdraw the services of its members if a
number of issues identified as undermining the
sector are not addressed.
Specifically, on 14 November 2016, the
correspondence to government conveyed a one
month ultimatum to the government on the
issues in contention.
Regrettably, the ASUP president stated that
despite “the severity of the issues listed,
government has not, within the intervening
period demonstrated enough passion to
address them , leaving the union with no choice
especially as we have demonstrated enough
patience in deferring the decision since August
2016.”

The issues in contention include the non-
implementation of the report of the NEEDS
Assessment report which as at July 2014
revealed that public polytechnics and Colleges
of Technology in Nigeria require injection of
minimum of N652.6million to address the rot in
infrastructure in the sector; sustained poor
funding of public polytechnics as shown in the
poor but yet unimplemented capital grant to
polytechnics and deliberate attempts at
frustrating the resolution of the meeting of the
Council on Establishment held in July 2016 on
the removal of entry level dichotomy against
HND holders .

Other issues are victimization of union officials,
non-release of union check off dues and
interference in union activities; non-release of
CONTISS 15 migration arrears; release of
visitation panel report of Federal polytechnics
and report of Ministerial panels to Federal
polytechnics in Auchincloss, Oko’ Yaba and
Ado-Ekiti; delay in the review of the Federal
Polytechnic Act; non-commencement of
renegotiation of the ASUP/government
agreement of 2010 and government’s tardiness
in the appointment of Rectors of Federal
polytechnics.