Academic activities at the nation’s higher institutions may be disrupted once again as the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has issued a 21-day ultimatum to the Federal Government to resolve its grievances or face a strike.
President of ASUP, Shammah Kpanja, who disclosed this in Abuja on Thursday, accused the government of insensitivity to the plight of teachers.
His words: “Given the non-committal disposition of the FME in committing to genuine dialogue and lack of will to execute previous resolutions on some of the items, our union’s NEC has resolved to issue a 21-day ultimatum to the government to address the issues satisfactorily. A failure to utilise this window may lead to the declaration of a trade dispute and withdrawal of services of our members across public polytechnics and monotechnics nationwide.”
ASUP accused the Federal Ministry of Education of refusing to reconvene the FME/ASUP Rapid Response Committee meetings, which were formed to address industrial relations challenges in the sector.
The issues under dispute include the non-release of a circular by the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC) to cover the Peculiar Academic Allowance; the non-release of arrears from the 25/35 per cent salary review and the non-implementation of these in some states; delays in granting a dual mandate structure for polytechnics; the non-release of the second round of NEEDS assessment intervention; refusal to implement sectoral components on the approved roadmap of the Federal Ministry of Education (FME) regarding the establishment of a dedicated commission for the sector; non-release of promotion arrears and non-implementation of promotion in many state-owned institutions; renegotiation of the 2010 ASUP/FGN agreement; refusal to domesticate relevant portions of the Federal Polytechnics Act by state-owned polytechnics; sustained discrimination against HND holders in the public service; stalled discussions on the release of CONTISS 15 arrears; militarisation of campuses; and undue continued interference in the activities of ASUP at Federal Polytechnic Nekede.
While it notes that the Peculiar Academic Allowance paid to academic staff across Polytechnics is part of the ASUP/FGN 2010 agreement, ASIP raises concerns about its sustainability due to the non-release of the necessary circular by the NSIWC, which is needed for budgetary provisions.
It is claimed that the allowance has been removed from the budgeting template and the Federal Ministry of Education (FME) has failed to intervene effectively.
It also said the government is yet to release the funds required for the payment of the arrears of the 25/35 per cent salary review.
“The arrears cover 12 months and are captured in the budget but have yet to be released for reasons beyond the comprehension of our union and her members. The situation is worse in Owned Polytechnics, where some states have not implemented the salary review. Also, most state governments have failed to implement the New National Minimum Wage,” it said.
The union noted that the government continues to delay the release of the second round of the approved NEEDS assessment intervention, while the relevant committee in the FME has refused to reconvene to review the utilisation of the first round.
ASUP equally criticised the Education Ministry’s approved policy of outsourcing quality assurance activities in Nigeria’s Polytechnics, citing ethical, economic, conventional, and moral flaws in the policy.
The union stated that despite the approval of the sectoral roadmap by the Education Ministry, which emphasises the need for a dedicated commission to properly regulate the tertiary education component of TVET in the country, no steps have been taken to implement this measure.
ASUP also declared that the extremely slow process used in releasing promotion arrears to its members, some dating back to 2019, is very unfortunate and has diminished the value of the funds.
The ASUP President added: “Equally, in many state-owned polytechnics, the implementation of promotions has become a mirage, leaving staff very demotivated. The Government has refused to reconstitute this committee to conclude the renegotiation exercise.
The deployment of military personnel by some managements in polytechnics is also unsettling the teachers.
“The Governing Council and the Rector of the Federal Polytechnic Nekede have sustained the act of deploying armed security agents to disrupt the lawful activities of our union. They have continued to facilitate internal distractions in the union and recently released a memo stopping our union’s congresses on campus. This is akin to tyranny and the FME has failed to hold both the Rector and the Governing Council to account on this,” he said.
