ASUP Strike: Poly Lecturers Decry Government’s Negligence
The President, Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, Charles Asomugha, has said there is no end in sight for the 11- month old strike embarked upon by the union since last year, stating that the government had yet to implement the agreement the lecturers had with it.
Asomugha said the action of the Federal Government was surprising despite having reached an agreement with it.
He added that the only thing stopping the lecturers from calling off the strike was the non-implementation of the agreement.
The union leader, in an interview with our correspondent during the week, said, “Nothing is really happening now. We are still waiting on the government. We have already reached an understanding with them, but we are still waiting on them for response. “We were supposed to hold a meeting with them on June 24, 2014 but the minister of education and other government officials did not turn up. That meeting was rescheduled for July 1, but they still did not turn up. “The problem right now is with the government. It’s as if they are not willing to go to
any length for us. We had reached a point in one of the core issues where what we were expecting was the date of implementation of the agreement we had. “But then, the Salaries and Wages Income Commission just came to frustrate everything. I do not even know what to call all these – whether it is manipulation or deliberate deception. We really do not know what to term it. Somehow, the government has devised the means of frustrating any headway in the discussions.” He described the strike as unfortunate, adding that it had led the lecturers and students to depression and hopelessness. Asomugha said, “It is quite unfortunate. Nobody is happy about the strike. The students are frustrated, we are also frustrated. And it is really pathetic for the system. It is sad for the tertiary education, especially polytechnic education in the country. It is frightening. “We are still hopeful of a future meeting, but up till now, there is no attempt by the government to end this strike.” A student of The Federal Polytechnic, Ede, Osun State, Yemi Oyeleke, said he had never been so frustrated in life up till this time.
He said, “The strike has done a lot of damage to my intelligence. There were times I forgot the spellings of simple English words.”
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