Federal Polytechnic Oko boils as ASUP,SSANIP stage for strike

www.odogwublog.com reports that tension is brewing at Federal Polytechnic Oko, Anambra state following an ultimatum the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, ASUP gave to the Rector , Prof Godwin Onu to pay them February Salary unfailingly before Monday or the institution would be shut down.
This was the outcome of their emergency congress today as addressed by Comrade Okoma .

As well the Senior Staff Association of Polytechnics SSANIP would be having their own emergency congress tomorrow to give their own ultimatum, www.odogwublog.com leant.


January salary was in excess of N15 million and the polytechnic used it but when February salary came with the shortfall of same N15milion Polytechnic  management said there was no money to pay staff.

The staff went on independent investigation and revealed what happened even as they gathered that same happened in other Polytechnics but they used their IGR to offset.
The staff wondered why Oko Polytechnic management should say there was no money when they collect N15,000 acceptance fee from each student aside payment for scratch cards for pins to check admission , medical and other sundry payments by prospective students.

Meanwhile, lecturers, under the auspices of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), had gone on a nationwide one-week warning strike.

 President of ASUP, Usman Dutse, said there would be no academic and administrative activity any public polytechnic between 12 noon of 30 January, 2017 and 6 February, 2017.

Comrade Dutse pointed out that the union had on two occasions in July and November last year communicated the decision of its NEC to withdraw the services of its members if a number of issues identified as undermining the sector are not addressed.

Specifically, on 14 November 2016, the correspondence to government conveyed a one month ultimatum to the government on the issues in contention.

Regrettably, the ASUP president stated that despite “the severity of the issues listed, government has not, within the intervening period demonstrated enough passion to address them , leaving the union with no choice especially as we have demonstrated enough patience in deferring the decision since August 2016.”

The issues in contention include the non-implementation of the report of the NEEDS Assessment report which as at July 2014 revealed that public polytechnics and Colleges of Technology in Nigeria require injection of minimum of N652.6million to address the rot in infrastructure in the sector; sustained poor funding of public polytechnics as shown in the poor but yet unimplemented capital grant to polytechnics and deliberate attempts at frustrating the resolution of the meeting of the Council on Establishment held in July 2016 on the removal of entry level dichotomy against HND holders .

Other issues are victimization of union officials, non-release of union check off dues and interference in union activities; non-release of CONTISS 15 migration arrears; release of visitation panel report of Federal polytechnics and report of Ministerial panels to Federal polytechnics in Auchincloss, Oko’ Yaba and Ado-Ekiti; delay in the review of the Federal Polytechnic Act; non-commencement of renegotiation of the ASUP/government agreement of 2010 and government’s tardiness in the appointment of Rectors of Federal polytechnics.