The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has demanded the immediate reconstitution of all dissolved Governing Councils of Polytechnics in accordance with the extant rules.
ASUP also demanded for the removal of the 5 unfit and unqualified persons currently pretending to be Rectors of some of the new Federal Polytechnics in the country; as well as the respect for laws in state polytechnics.
The demands are contained in a text of a press conference addressed by the President of ASUP, Anderson U. Ezeibe, preceding the Union’s 17th Biennial National Delegates Conference.
ASUP also demanded the stoppage of the appointment of unqualified persons as Principal Officers in Polytechnics in Nigeria as well as the immediate release of the scheme of service for Polytechnics.
It further demanded for the faithful implementation of the approved roadmap for the education sector particularly as it affects the establishment of a National Commission for Polytechnics and granting of degree awarding status for Polytechnics.
Also demanded by ASUP is the upward review of the budgetary provisions for education in the 2024 appropriation bill before the National Assembly to reflect actual needs for the sector as well as total withdrawal of the 2021 circular requesting institutions to make remittances of their internally generated funds.
The Union is also demanding the immediate implementation of the approved new wage structure of 35% and 25% for Chief Lecturers and other categories of staff in the sector with arrears.
Furthermore, ASUP wants the release of owed promotion arrears and implementation of same in state-owned institutions; as well as the release of 15 migration arrears for the lower cadre and an upward increase in allocation for NEEDS Assessment intervention for Polytechnics.
Another demand is the return to the table of renegotiation to enable a proper renegotiation of the ASUP/FGN 2010 agreement and the unconditional release of the 8 months owed salaries of University staff in the country.
According to the ASUP President, “While we expect the government to work assiduously towards a revamp of the education sector, we expect that the issues highlighted in this document should be given requisite attention. These are key items undermining the functionality of the education sector in general and polytechnic education in particular.”
He had earlier stated that the press conference was aimed at drawing the attention of Nigerians to the Union’s perspectives on the prevailing but underwhelming situation in Nigeria’s tertiary education sector in general and the Polytechnic subsector in particular.
The conference also dwelled on issues of governance in the Polytechnics, persistent but deleterious policies of government, and wellbeing of the members across the nation saying, “These are items of serious concern as we approach our union’s biennial national delegates’ conference with the theme: Identity Crisis and Existential Threat to Polytechnic Education in Nigeria: Issues and Perspectives”.
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