ASUP To Begin Warning Strike Tomorrow.

The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics on Sunday declared a one week warning striking beginning from Monday (tomorrow) to February 5th, 2017, lamenting that the federal government had remained adamant to the plight of polytechnic education in the country.

ASUP’s South-South/South-East Coordinator, Dr. Chika Ogonwa, who disclosed this to journalists in Asaba on Sunday on behalf of the national body, said its members would embarked on an indefinite strike if the outstanding issues confronting body were not resolved within one week by the federal government.

Dr Ogonwa noted that the warning strike was ‘a fight’ aimed at redeeming nation’s education from total collapse, expressed anger over FG non-commencement of renegotiation of the ASUP/Government agreement of 2010 on the review of the Federal Polytechnics Act.

The union had during its 86th meeting of the National Executive Council in August 2016 shifted the strike to January 2017 to give the current administration sufficient time to resolve the various lingering disputes with the Federal Government.

He said, “Effective from today (Monday), the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has lifted the ban on its deferred industrial action against the near collapse of the sector in Nigeria. The one week warning strike ends February 5th.

“President Muhammadu Buhari-led government is insensitive to our plight. After this warning strike, the Federal Government will be left with two options – either to close down the system or redeem it from total collapse.”

Ogonwa decried why the Federal Government had refused to implement the report of the NEEDS Assessment report, which as at July 2014, stated that public Polytechnics and Colleges of Technology in the country requires the injection of N652,591,478.614 to function optimally.