polytechnic lecturers commence nationwide strike today

The National President, Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), Mr Chibuzor Asomugha, on Thursday directed the union members nationwide to commence an indefinite strike today.
Asomugha told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the directive became imperative following the Federal Government’s failure to meet the union’s demands.
He explained that two months after the union had suspended its previous strike, nothing had been done by the government to address the union’s demands.
NAN recalled that the decision to embark on the strike on October 4 was reached at the 75th National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the union in Bida, Niger State on September 28.
It will also be recalled that ASUP embarked on a nationwide indefinite strike on April 29 over the Federal Government’s failure to address its grievances.
The strike was later suspended on July 17.
The suspension was as a result of the intervention of the Joint Committees on Education of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Asomugha said it was over two months that the union suspended its strike, but the Federal Government had not fulfilled its pledge to address the issues.
“Nothing has been done since we suspended our strike in July,” he said.
Asomugha said the union gave the Federal Government up till September 16, — a two-month grace period — within which to negotiate and settle the issues, but noted that nothing had been done so far.
The president said that the Federal Government had not fulfilled its bargain in the 2009 agreement with the union.
The union had, earlier in a statement on Monday, notified the Federal Government of its decision to go on strike  if the government did not honour the agreements reached.
NAN reported that the union’s demands include the possibility of lower cadres rising to CONTISS 15, and the release of a white paper on the visitation panel to the federal polytechnics.