ASUP mobilises lecturers as strike ultimatum expires

The 15-day ultimatum issued by the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics to the Federal Government to meet its demands is set to expire on October 23.

The group had threatened to embark on strike should the government fail to address the contentious new scheme of service for polytechnic lecturers across the country.

As the deadline approaches, more lecturers have endorsed the ASUP National Executive Council’s position to mobilise members to withdraw their services once the ultimatum expires.

ASUP Zone D Coordinator, Dr Iloma Richard, told the News Agency of Nigeria in Port Harcourt on Wednesday that the government has yet to address the contentious issues in the new guidelines.

Richard said that ASUP had suspended its planned industrial action on July 22, following the Federal Government’s intervention, which mandated the National Board for Technical Education to review the disputed guidelines.

“The strike was suspended to create the necessary environment for the speedy resolution of all contentious issues through the stakeholders’ engagement process.

“Regrettably, as I speak, no progress has been made in this direction due to the obvious reluctance of NBTE.

“The union has also noted, with regret, a similar attitude of the government towards other welfare needs of the union’s members,” he said.

The union leader highlighted the alleged disregard for quality control in polytechnic education, warning that, if allowed to persist, it would lead to the collapse of technical and vocational education in the country.

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