There is the fear of another long strike
returning to the nation’s polytechnics and colleges of education, our
correspondent learnt on Monday.
The anxiety is coming as the Federal
Government has yet to meet the demands of the Academic Staff Union of
Polytechnics and the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union, more
than three months after it promised to resolve all outstanding issues
concerning the industrial actions.
It was learnt that ASUP had scheduled
Wednesday, November 12, for its Council of National Officers’ meeting to
reappraise the “compassionate treaty” it reached with the Federal
Government in July.
The ASUP President, Mr. Chibuzor
Asomugha, in an interview with our correspondent on Monday, said both
the teachers and their students were not happy with the “delay in
resolving all the outstanding issues.”
Asomugha, who did not make any
categorical statement on whether members of the union would embark on
another full-scale industrial action, noted that anything was possible,
considering the worry and restiveness on campuses arising from the
government’s inability to address the workers’ concern.
He, nonetheless, noted that it was for the elected national officers of ASUP to decide the next step to take.
He said, “We are meeting next Wednesday
in Abuja to decide on what next to do. More than three months after we
suspended our strike to enable the authorities to address the issues
fully, nothing concrete has so far come out of it.
“The leadership of the union was to meet
with the authorities on October 20 to discuss the grey areas, but that
meeting did not hold because the technical committee set up by the
government had not filed its report.
“As I speak with you, no new date has
been fixed for the meeting, but I tell you, anything is possible among
our members, especially as the government has not addressed our issues.”
The ASUP chief, however, lauded the
minister, saying he at least inaugurated the technical committee that
was harmonising all the outstanding issues.
COEASU also described the Federal
Government’s intervention so far, especially its October 28 letter to
the union over the suspended strike, as belated.
The union, in a communiqué obtained on
Monday after its three-day meeting in Abuja, said the letter coming
after the “expiration of the three-month moratorium was quite belated
and unsubstantial in its terse content.”
The union’s president and secretary, Messrs Emmanuel Asagha and Nuhu Ogirima, respectively, signed the statement.
The union argued that the continued
delay in the implementation of the “migration concept” in the colleges
of education was just unacceptable, even as it was an act of injustice.
It added, “The Council, therefore,
implores the Federal Government to commence the full implementation of
migration by paying the arrears accruing therefrom as a matter of urgent
national interest, so as to stem the imminent resumption of the
national strike suspended three months ago.
Meanwhile, the Education Rights Campaign has condemned the inability of the government to meet the unions’ demands.
The action of the government, ERC in a
statement by its Coordinator, Hassan Taiwo, said, was “contemptuous” of
public education in the country.
The group, therefore, called on the
Federal Government to immediately meet and begin the implementation of
all outstanding demands of ASUP and COEASU in order to avert resumption
of industrial action.
But the the Special Adviser on Media to
the Minister, Mr. Nnamdi Olebara, who spoke on behalf of his principal,
urged the unions not to engage in any action that would further disrupt
academic activities in the nation’s tertiary institutions.
According to him, the minister is
sincere in the treaty he reached with the unions and very soon, all the
issues would be resolved amicably.
He said, “The minister is sincere. The
promise is a sincere one and everything is on to fulfil the promise. It
may not have been so smooth as to click with the end of three months,
but we are not far from fulfilling that promise.
“In fact, we want to leave here much
better than we met it and the minister’s assurance should be taken in
good faith and with all seriousness.”
The leadership of ASUP and COEASU, last
July 12, suspended their strike to enable the Education Minister, Mallam
Ibrahim Shekarau, to look into their requests.
Before the suspension, ASUP strike,
which started October 4, 2013, lasted for 10 months, while that of
COEASU, which commenced December 18, dragged on for seven months.
The action not only disrupted the
students’ academic calendar, it also frustrated many of the students,
especially the Higher National Diploma candidates, from participating in
this year’s compulsory National Youth Service Corps scheme.
ASUP is demanding, among others, the
removal of what they regard as discrimination against polytechnic
graduates, review of the Polytechnics Act, the establishment of a
National Polytechnics Commission and the release of the White Paper of
the visitation to federal polytechnics.
They are also kicking against the poor
funding of polytechnics, deplorable condition of state polytechnics,
appointment of unqualified persons as rectors of polytechnics and the
review of the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System and the
funding of the CONTISS 15 Migration.
Colleges of education teachers, whose
agitation started last December 18, are demanding, among others, the
release of the 2012 Visitation White Paper, implementation of the NEEDS
Assessment Report, harmonisation of conditions of service and the
granting of autonomy to the colleges to award degrees.
The Federal Government did not meet many
of these requirements while the then Minister of State for Education,
Chief Nyesom Wike, superintended the activities of the ministry.
This resulted in the protracted
industrial actions, which lasted till July 12 when a compassionate
treaty was reached between Shekarau and the striking lecturers, leading
to the suspension of the strikes.
