Polytechnic lecturers suspend 10-month strike

The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics has called off the industrial action it embarked upon in October 2013.

At the time, ASUP hinged its strike on 13 demands that the government had to meet for its members to return to work.

The demands were: a re-construction of the governing councils of federal polytechnics dissolved by the government in 2010, the migration of the lower cadres on the CONTISS 15 salary scale, the release of the white paper on the visitations to federal polytechnics, the need for the commencement of the Needs Assessment of Nigerian polytechnics, the need to reverse the worrisome state of state-owned polytechnics, and stoppage of  continued appointment of unqualified persons as rectors and provosts of polytechnics, monotechnics and colleges of technologies by some state governments.

The lecturers had also complained of: “The refusal of most  state governments to implement the approved salary packages (CONPCASS) for their polytechnics, monotechnics and colleges of technologies”, “the insistence of the office of the accountant-general of the federation to include federal polytechnics in the IPPIS module”, “the dichotomy between university and polytechnic graduates in job placements and career progression”, “the continued recognition of the NBTE as the regulatory body of Nigerian polytechnics as against the union’s repeated call for the establishment of a National Polytechnics Commission”, and “the snail’s-speed pace of the review of the federal polytechnics Act at the National Assembly”.

The last two grievances were “the reluctance of the office of the head of service to approve the revised scheme of service of polytechnics” and “the non-commencement of the negotiation of the FGN/ASUP agreement as contained in the signed agreement reviewed in 2009”.

The demands were presented to the government back in February 2012.

On Thursday, ASUP leaders held a “productive meeting” with newly-appointed minister of education and former governor of Kano state, Ibrahim Shekarau.

And on Saturday, the national executive council of the union, comprising chairmen of all chapters of the nation’s polytechnics and the national executive body, held a long meeting at the end of which it suspended the strike.

Confirming the suspension to journalists, president of ASUP, Chibuzor Asomugha, directed the lecturers to resume work on Tuesday.