ASUP suspends planned nationwide strike

The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has suspended its planned industrial action following the withdrawal of the Federal Government’s newly introduced service provision programme for Higher National Diploma (HND) certificate holders in the public service.

The university lecturers said there was no reason for a nationwide strike as their demands regarding the controversial policy had been met by the federal government. In their opinion, implementing the policy would further widen the long-standing gap between university graduates and bachelor graduates in the job market.

As a reminder, the Federal Government through the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) recently issued a white paper titled “Roster Plan for Polytechnicians” which was signed by the Head of Federal Government Public Service, Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan. A copy of this document was sent to ASUP through the NBTE.

According to ASUP, the document contains numerous inconsistencies and points of contention that have angered members, who are key stakeholders in polytechnic education.

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They therefore called for a halt to the implementation and threatened that otherwise they would go on strike across the country.

To this end, the union issued a 15-day ultimatum to the federal government, which expired on Friday, July 19, stating that it would continue the industrial action if the government insisted on implementing the new policy.

However, the federal government has since withdrawn this policy after a series of meetings with stakeholders, including ASUP representatives, to review it.

Subsequently, ASUP announced that they would no longer strike on the issue. This decision was taken during ASUP’s NEC meeting on Monday, July 22.

The Union’s President, Shammah Kpanja, announced this in a statement made available to journalists on Monday evening.

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According to him, the recent decision of the ASUP confirms that its demands on the new policy have been substantially met. He appreciated the steadfastness of the members in the face of unjustified provocations, as well as the intervention and contributions of various stakeholders, including Rectors of the polytechnics, sister unions and the students through the National Association of Polytechnic Students.

“We are equally grateful for the constructive intervention of the Minister of Education and the open-minded attitude of the Executive Secretary of the NBTE that led to these decisions, as well as to the media, which have once again proven to be valuable partners.

“Our union will therefore devote a lot of energy and time in the coming days to preparing for the review in order to ultimately produce a document that reflects the aspirations of the sector.”