Striking Polytechnic lecturers to embark on protest next week
Adetokunbo Fakeye
Striking polytechnic lecturers are threatening to embark on a ‘massive protest’ in Abuja next week.
ASUP President, Chibuzor Asomugha, speaking on a radio programme yesterday, expressed his union’s frustration at the federal government’s handling of the six-month-old strike.
He said the last meeting between the government and the lecturers was held on March 26 in Abuja, with the government team led by the Labour Minister, Emeka Nwogu, while the president of the Nigeria Labour President, Abdulwaheed Omar, also attended.
Mr. Asomugha said ASUP made “further concessions” at the last meeting including agreeing to a two-installment payment of the agreed salaries and allowances; and the setting up of an inter-ministerial committee to review the other contentious issues.
The meeting, he said, agreed that the government delegation would brief President Goodluck Jonathan and come up with a “Memorandum of Understanding” that will be signed by both parties “this week”, he said.
He added ASUP is concerned that since the March 26 meeting, the government has not gotten back to the lecturers.“It is almost three weeks now,” he said.
Asomugha explained that the planned protest would involve market women, students, lecturers and labour unions who are all concerned about how the federal government is treating polytechnic education in Nigeria. He did not state the day of the protest.
He however said the union was still seeking an amicable solution to the strike and had written to the Senate President, David Mark, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, to intervene in the strike. He added that the Senate President had replied saying he would intervene after conclusion of work on the 2014 budget. The budget was passed by the Senate on Wednesday and by the House on Thursday.
It is not clear why the strike persists as ASUP’s agreement to the two-installment payment of the agreed allowances tallies with an earlier federal government proposal.
The Labour Minister, Emeka Wogu, had told Premium Times that the federal government and ASUP had agreed on other issues; with the installment payment being the non-resolved one.
Wogu, speaking through his spokesperson, Simeon Nwakaudu, told Premium Times on March 27 that the lecturers had refused the two-installment proposal the government had made; something the lecturers said they have now agreed to with the first installments to be paid in April.
“What is left is payment of arrears, which the government, during one of its meeting with ASUP, offered to pay in two installments,” Nwakaudu said.
He explained that if ASUP had accepted the offer of two installments, the first payment would have been made in March, while the second would be in November. He disclosed that the arrears for both ASUP and COEASU were over N40 billion.
“Such an amount cannot be paid at once. That’s why we offered it in two installments to the unions, but they insisted on getting it in one go. However, the economy shows that the funds are not there. Too many issues are being tackled: basic education, tertiary education and all sub-sectors of education are also involved.”