ASUP Plans April 29 Nationwide Protest

The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), on Wednesday, said it had concluded plans to stage a nationwide protest over what it described as government’s insensitivity to its lingering strike.
The National President of the union, Dr Chibuzo Asomugha, told newsmen in Abuja that the protest would take place on April 29.
This is coming on the heels of Kebbi State chapter of the union’s decision on Tuesday to call off the 10-month old strike.
Asomugha said failure by the Federal Government to meet the demands of ASUP and the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) and the consequent shutdown of the nation’s public polytechnics and colleges of education was worrisome.
“In fact, we are planning for the protest on April 29 and if it doesn’t come up on the 29th, then it would be immediately after May Day.
“We have been waiting for the federal government. The strike should have been suspended about three weeks ago but we haven’t heard from them.
“So, with this kind of development we do not even think there is any measure of sincerity on the part of the government,’’ he said.
According to him, the strike has lingered and members are beginning to give in to pressure.
“Ten months into the strike, some chapters are coming under pressure but there are provisions in our constitution to take care of such betrayals.
He expressed confidence in the resilience of ASUP members,
He said the union would hold final meeting on the proposed strike with the Nigeria Labour Congress and other stakeholders.
Nyesom Wike, Supervising Minister of Education, 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, Chief Emeka Wogu, and was yet to convince the striking lecturers. [NAN]

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Prolonged ASUP/COEASU Strike: Students Continues Protest

Angry students took to the streets of Lagos in continuation of their protest over the prolonged ASUP/COEASU strike.


The students who were led by the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Zone D Coordinator, Comrade Sunday Asefon said the protest was to identify with spirit of the late human rights activist and lawyer, Chief Gani Fawehinmi, SAN.

He implored the FG to listen to the pleas of the students who have stayed at home for 8 months now and meet the demands of the two unions.

The students called on Governor Babatunde Fashola to reverse the fees of LASU to the minimum, and urged the Federal Government to honour the 2010 agreement entered into with COEASU and ASUP.

They also demanded the conversion of Higher National Diploma (HND), to Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech, 26 per cent budgetary allocation to education as recommended by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and the removal of Supervising Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike.

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ASUP, COEASU strike: Minister urges lecturers to call off strike

The supervising Minister of Education, Barr. Ezenwo Nyesom Wike,has urged the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) and College of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU), to call off the protracted strike.

This was made to known to the public in a statement released to the press in Abuja yesterday by his Special Assistant (Media), Mr. Simeon Nwakaudu.

The minister said he had led negotiations with ASUP and COEASU leaderships to resolve the on-going strike on several occasions and hoped that the two unions would respond positively to the latest efforts of the Federal Government and call of their strikes.

He said: “These negotiations has led to the Federal Government meeting about 90 per cent of the demands of the unions.

”Only one principal demand is yet to be finalised, but the Federal Government has placed before the two unions the payment of arrears of CONTISS 15 put at over N40billion for the two unions. The Federal Government has proposed two instalmental payments, which the unions rejected.”

He said further negotiations were held last week, adding that there was hope that in the coming days, the outstanding issues would be resolved.

The minister said the Federal Government had worked round the clock to resolve all issues presented by ASUP and COEASU.

“It is the hope of Nigerians that the associations will reciprocate by calling off their strikes in the coming days,” he said.

It would be recalled the Federal Government, through the Federal Ministry of Education, set up the Needs Assessment Committees for Polytechnics and Colleges of Education, and the two committees are in the process of concluding their reports.

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Poly Students May Lose Full Session — Striking Lecturers

The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics has warned that the nation’s public polytechnics may lose a full academic session due to the ongoing strike by its members.

The warning is coming as the Chairmen of Governing Councils of Federal Polytechnics and the leadership of the union plan to meet this Friday with a view to seeking an end to the strike.

The meeting, which holds in Abuja, The PUNCH gathered, comes on the heels of an earlier one the chairmen held with the Supervising Minister of Education, Mr. Nyesom Wike, over the impasse.

They met in Abuja on Friday, February 28 where, it was gathered, the minister asked them to prevail on the striking lecturers to accept the government’s proposal to fund the arrears of the Consolidated Tertiary Institution Salary Structure 15 Migration in two installments and suspend the strike.

Teachers in the nation’s public polytechnics have been on strike for over 150 days. The strike started on October 4, 2013.

They are seeking, among others, the removal of what they regard as discrimination against polytechnic graduates, review of the Polytechnics Act, establishment of a National Polytechnics Commission and the release of the White Paper of the visitation to federal polytechnics.

They are also kicking against the poor funding of polytechnics, deplorable condition of state polytechnics, appointment of unqualified persons as rectors of polytechnics as well as the review of the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System and the funding of the CONTISS 15 Migration.

But the ASUP National President, Mr. Chibuzo Asomugha, who spoke with our correspondent on Monday, warned that if the industrial crisis lingered a little more, it might result in the students losing a full academic session.

He said, “Polytechnics in Nigeria have yet to complete the 2012/2013 session. The 2013/2014 session has yet to commence four months into the schedule.

“There is the clear threat that a full academic session is on the verge of being lost. Factor in also the immediate repercussions of social vices and sundry frustration. It is a thoroughly frightening spectre.”

He therefore urged stakeholders to intervene further in resolving the crisis.

Promising that the union would attend the Friday meeting, the ASUP leader, however, doubted the commitment of the Federal Government to resolving the crisis.

He said, “Sequel to our meeting with the government, at which a common ground could not be reached, NEC of our union met in an emergency session and reviewed the government’s proposal. However, NEC was not convinced that the government had shown enough good faith to win the union’s trust. When the minister invited us to the meeting, we attended with the optimism that government had finally decided to act in the necessary ways to end the lingering crisis.

“At the outset, the union brought 13 issues to the discussion table. At the instance of the government, the union accepted to suspend the action if government could resolve four of the issues identified by the government as resolvable in two weeks while discussions would continue on the other nine.

“On the strength of government’s promise, ASUP suspended the strike on July 17, 2013 but up until October 04, 2013 when the strike was resumed, the government did not address any of the issues as promised. It was after the resumption of the strike that government addressed two of the issues: the completion of the constitution of governing councils of federal polytechnics and the inauguration of the Needs Assessment Committee for public polytechnics. In effect, therefore, 11 of the 13 issues have yet to command the attention of the government.”

On the arrears of CONTISS 15 Migration, Asomugha said the union found it “disturbing” that the minister had reneged on an earlier promise to settle the debt between March and September.

He added, “A disturbing development is that shortly after conveying his proposal in a letter to ASUP that the arrears would be paid in March and September, the minister, within one month, shifted from his earlier position by presenting March and November to the council chairmen. He altered his earlier proposal without referring to ASUP.”

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"Resolve ASUP Strike" Poly Students Appeal To FG

The Federal Government has been urged to resolve its differences with the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics and end the seven-month-old strike by the lecturers.

The call was made on Thursday by the President of the Students’ Union Government of Federal Polytechnic, Bauchi Malam Abubakar Bako.

Bako told the News Agency of Nigeria that the lingering strike by the lecturers was having a toll on the students hence the need to end it and prevent idle polytechnic students from taking to crime.

He said that the strike, if not resolved, could force students into social vices due to idleness and frustration.

“The continued face-off between our striking lecturers and the federal government is becoming worrisome with no call-off date in sight.

“We are appealing to the warring parties to have sympathy on us, settle their differences and allow us to go back to school and continue with our studies,” he said.

Bako said that a two-year diploma programme now runs between three and four years due to incessant strikes.

He said that the ongoing strike had denied eligible students from participating in the compulsory National Youths Service Corps scheme.

He said that the students were in support of ASUP’s call for a review of the Polytechnic Act to remove the disparity between Higher National Diploma Certificate and University degree.

“We are also in support of the union’s struggle for the establishment of a National Polytechnic Commission and the need to improve funding for education in the country,” he said.

The SUG president appealed to the federal government to implement the 2009 agreement it entered with ASUP for the development of the education system in the country.

He, therefore, urged President Goodluck Jonathan to intervene in the face-off as he did with leaders of the Academic Staff Union of Universities.

His intervention, Bako said, would save the country’s technical education system from total collapse.

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ASUP strike to be resumed on Friday 4th October

The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics is to resume its suspended strike on Friday following the inability of the Federal Government to resolve outstanding issues with the union.
ASUP Chairman, Mr. Clement Chairman, told newsmen in Jos on Sunday that “the frustrating inertia of the Federal Government to convincingly fulfill any of the promises and agreements reached with the union before the suspension of the earlier strike on July 17, 2013 shows that government is not serious.”
Chirman said the National Executive Council after its 75th meeting held at the Federal Polytechnic, Bida, Niger State, resolved that the strike would “be total and indefinite” until the government showed committed to honouring the agreement with the union.
He expressed dismay at government penchant for breaking agreements, adding that “since the union suspended its earlier strike in July, government has shown no commitment to fulfilling any of the promises it made to the union.”
The union in its communiqué after the meeting in Bida decried “the anti-labour stance of the National Assembly as exemplified by the recently proposed removal of minimum wage from the exclusive legislative list of the constitution to the concurrent list, as well as the proposed legislation against declaration of industrial strike by unions in the tertiary sector.”
ASUP also lamented government’s abuse of the laws establishing TETfund. And the culpable lack of commitment of the National Board for Technical Education to meeting the needs and demands of polytechnic education in Nigeria.
“The CONTISS 15 Migration for Lower cadres, Needs Assessment of Polytechnics, release of whitepaper of visitation to Federal polytechnics, discrimination between polytechnics and university graduates in job placement and career progression and the constitution of Governing Councils to Federal polytechnics earlier omitted, were among the issues we brought before the Federal Government in the last negotiation, but government has failed to address any of them since after we suspended strike in July”, Chairman lamented.
The communique said:
1. That Government should without delay address all the outstanding standing issues including the NEEDS Assessments of the polytechnics and the corresponding funding, constitution of the Governing Councils of the remaining Federal polytechnics, CONITSS 15 Migration of the Lower Cadres, the removal of disparity between HND and Degree certificates, establishment of the National Polytechnics Commission (NPC), release of the Whitepaper of the visitation panels to polytechnics;
2. That the National Assembly should rescind from its current anti-labour posture in the interest of industrial peace and our desperate move to rescue the endangered soul of the tertiary institutions in the country;
3. That the National Assembly should expedite action on the review of the Polytechnic Act;
4. That a vote of no confidence be passed the NBTE and further calls for the immediate establishment of a National Polytechnics Commission (NPC) to proactively cater for the needs of the sector;
5. That the Nigerian political class and other interest groups should exercise restraint on their utterances and activities in the interest of peace, unity and security of the nation;
6. That the Federal Government should desist from abuse of TET fund laws;
7. That stakeholders in the education sector such as parents, students, religious leaders, the press, members of States and National assemblies to rise to their responsibilities of rescuing the (polytechnic) education sector from imminent collapse;
8. That the position of ASUP on the need to appoint the rectors from within the polytechnic system remains irreversible;
9. That in view of the continued insincerity of Government to honour the agreement reached with ASUP, NEC resolves that the union will resume the suspended strike with effect from 4th October, 2013.
NEC sincerely appreciates the good people of Nigeria and all other stakeholders in the education sector for their sustained support in its struggles to save the polytechnic education from total collapse in Nigeria.

Source: Punch NG

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FG agrees to meet ASUP demands

The Federal Government on Monday the 16 of September, 2013 met with the leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics behind closed doors and agreed to meet the demands of the union. The Minister of State for Education, Nyesom Wike, and the Labour Minister, Emeka Wogu co-chaired the meeting while ASUP President, Chibuzo Asomugha, led the union team. None of the parties, however, spoke with journalists after the brief meeting held at the Federal Ministry of Education in Abuja. However, a source at the meeting, who confided in our correspondent, said the union obtained a strong commitment from the government. He said, “The union tabled three key issues at the meeting. One is the need to constitute the governing councils of the remaining seven polytechnics. Wike was said to have informed the union that the Federal Government had agreed to constitute the remaining governing councils. He promised that the list would be out by this week and the union was happy about it. “He also promised that the white paper on the visitation panel to the polytechnics was almost ready and would be released soon. “On the CONTISS 15, Wike promised to work with the Minister of Labour to get the circular ready from the Head of Service having got commitment from the Presidency to work out the modality on the migration to CONTISS 15 for the polytechnic teachers.

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Students protest in Lagos over ASUU, ASUP strike

Information reaching us reports that students under the aegis of Nigerian Education Rights Coalition and Coalition Against Commercialization of Education in Nigeria yesterday embarked on street protests in Lagos. The protest has brought traffic to a standstill on on Lagos main road, Ikorodu road. The protest which started with a handful of students protesting against Nigerian government insensitivity to ongoing strike by university and polytechnic teachers has steadily grown in the last hour. Source: myschool.com.ng

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