ASUP

Auchi Poly alumni urges Nigerian government to meet ASUP demands to end strike

Auchi Polytechnic Alumni Association (APAA) on Monday called on the Federal Government to meet the demands of striking polytechnic lecturers to save the undergraduates’ future.

Godspower Omadhebor, the National President of APAA, made the call at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the association held in Auchi, Edo State.

The polytechnic teachers had embarked on what they describe as ” nationwide indefinite strike” on April 6, 2021.

The lecturers are protesting the non-implementation of the ASUP/FG agreement of 2010, payment of salaries, arrears of the new minimum wage in some state-owned polytechnics as well as the implementation of the NEEDS Assessment Report of 2014l

Omadhebor said that the current strike would further weaken the sector and negatively affect the students.

“We are using this opportunity to call on the Federal Government to listen to the plight of the polytechnic lecturers that are presently on strike to meet their demands or enter into an agreement with them so that they can call off the strike.

“The students have been at home for over one year due to Covid-19 pandemic and EndSars protect, now that they are back on campus ASUP is on strike.

“Again, it has affected the school calender, their acedemic future is being truncated and it will not go well for the nation if we have all this breakages in our education system,” he said.

Omadhebor said the association could not function effectively due to the Covid-19 pandemic and End Sars protest, adding that the association has been running the administration from the trickles of funds coming from backlogs of previous collections.

“Our annual budget which ought to take off in March 2020 was only approved by NEC in Sept 2020. But again, due to paucity of funds, the budget cannot be optimally financed.

“Revenue generation during the year under review was and still has been a colossal short fall.

“Our main source of revenue: the Alumni Membershop Registration Dues collected from graduating OND/HND students were not available for collection.

“Since March 2020 that we took over the reigns of government and even up till now, our school has not graduated any students, these have been our travails since we came on board 15 months ago,” he said.

The APAA president however, assured members that his administration had not jettisoned some of the underlisted projects, adding that as soon as funds are available projects would be pursued vigorously.