The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) may resume its strike which was suspended about two months ago as government is yet to fulfil the demands of the union.
This was disclosed by the chairman, Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Polytechnics (SSANIP), Yabatech branch, Mr Austin Okoh, on Tuesday, at the second Regular Meeting of Governing Council Chairmen of Federal Polytechnics and Colleges of Technology in Nigeria in Lagos.
According to him, the strike was suspended based on promises made by the government to implement the union’s demands within a speculated period of time, as well as a consideration of the fact that the students were mostly on the receiving end.
The most contentious issue in the polytechnics, Okoh noted, was the CONTISS 15 salary structure arrears payment to staff, as well as a review of the 2009 agreement which had become due for such.
He said since two months ago when the union suspended its strike, no positive steps had been taken by the government to address the problems.
“If no positive actions are taken by the government in resolving these issues, the polytechnics may resume the suspended strike soon,” he said.
According to him, there were also several discrepancies noticed in the newly introduced scheme of service, which, if not addressed, would pose a lot of problems in the future.
He added that the polytechnics were scheduled to hold a general executive meeting this month during which the next step to take on government’s refusal to implement the contents of the circular it issued to the institutions would be decided upon.
Also speaking, the chairman, Committee of Chairmen of Councils of Federal Polytechnics, Chief Ebenezer Babatope, who is also the chairman, Governing Council, Yabatech, emphasised the need for Nigeria to shift emphasis from literary education to technical and vocational education.
“The educational sector must change focus to the direction of addressing the challenges of unemployment, technological development and ultimately, competition for the international market towards economic development,” he said.

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