The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has threatened to embark on a strike action following the failure of the Nigerian government to implement agreements reached with the union since 2012.

ASUP President, Usman Dutse made the disclosure while speaking during a capacity building workshop for members of the union.

Dutse said that several agreements signed between ASUP and the Nigerian government about four years ago have been ignored by the Buhari-led administration.

He listed some of the agreements as non-implementation of CONTISS, poor state of polytechnics, under-funding of the sector, dichotomy between HND and bachelors’ degree holders and non-implementation of NEEDS assessment report on polytechnics, among others.

These same issues had compelled the union to embark on a nine-month strike between October, 2013 and July 2014.

The strike was suspended due to the intervention of the National Assembly, the passionate appeal of parents and other stakeholders in the sector and on the promise by the Federal Government to resolve the 13 points demand of the union within three months beginning from July, 2014.

Dutse added that although the agreement was signed during the Goodluck Jonathan administration, the Union has given the present administration more than one year to settle down and address their demands, which it failed to implement.

However, Rector of Kaduna Polytechnic, Mohammed Ibrahim, appealed to the union to review its demands in the light of the current economic situation.

He called for more funding of the polytechnic sector which he said is key to the technical and vocational advancement of the country.

Notwithstanding the situation, the polytechnic lecturers noted that a situation whereby many state-owned institutions owe their workers over seven months’ salaries and other allowances would no longer be acceptable.

The Minister of Labour and Productivity who was represented by a Director in the Ministry, Mohammed Yusuf, told the lecturers that the idea of shutting down campuses to press home their demands does not go well for the education sector.

Rather, he called for an effective synergy between the union and chief executives of institutions to address their demands. (TV360 Nigeria)

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