The Storm Is Over: ASUP And COEASU Strikes

As the ASUP and COEASU strikes reached fever level, pressure has been mounted on Nyesom Wike, the Supervising Minister of Education, who in a meeting with the governing councils of Federal Polytechnics and Colleges of Education to checkmate the essence of the strikes and re-open schools, said, “The Storm Is Over.” In the heat of the deliberation, the meeting was adjourned to allow the Minister meet with the federal government and later meet with the governing councils alongside the Executive Secretaries of National Board of Technical Education, NBTE, and National Commission for Colleges of Education, NCCE. The next meeting will strictly be discussing the details for re-opening of the Federal Polytechnics for lectures. As directives will be given by the governing council to the Rectors of the respective Polytechnics to re-open the schools. Also, after a meeting held at the ASUP National Executive council in Yandev, Benue State, some branches of ASUP in the northern part of the country have decided to pull out of the strike. Latest Update On Asup And COEASU Strikes– Senior Academic Lecturers Meanwhile, necessary payment procedures have been disclosed to COEASU who had earlier agreed to the two installmental payment offered by the Federal Government.

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Strike: ASUP, COEASU Accuse Wike of Spreading Falsehood

The striking members of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) and Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) have accused the supervising Minister of Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, of not showing enough commitment towards resolving the issues that have sustained the indefinite strikes. At a press conference jointly addressed in Abuja yesterday, the unions said the minister, instead of addressing the issues, choose to embark on propaganda and falsehood, giving the public the impression that the unions are being strong headed. The National President of ASUP, Dr. Chibuzor Asomugha, also raised doubt concerning the setting up of a committee to address the dichotomy between Higher National Diploma (HND) and degree holders, which was announced by Wike at a retreat in Kaduna last week. A statement issued by the minister’s office had claimed that ASUP officials are a part of the committee headed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator Anyim Pius Anyim. Asomugha, however, said the union was not contacted and only read about it on the pages of the newspapers. “We have not been contacted and we were not at any meeting by any committee. We are on strike on this matter, and they set up a committee on it. They would have told us, if there is any genuineness in it,” he said. He added that the government offered to pay the CONTISS 15 migration arrears in two installments (March and September) which the union eventually agreed to. “Did he pay at the end of March? At the end of March, he slammed a no-work, no-pay policy on us,” Asomugha added. The Chairman of the Abuja chapter of COEASU, Dr. Ahmed Lawal, lamented that due to the refusal of the government to harmonise working conditions across tertiary institutions, the College of Education (CoEs) usually lose their lecturers to the university system. He added that since the union went on strike in December, Wike had not made any effort to meet with them, even though his labour counterpart, Chief Emeka Wogu, had met with them several times. Lawal added that if the CoEs which train teachers for basic education continue to suffer neglect, then the future of education in Nigeria remains in jeopardy. The unions, alongside the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and some civil societies organisations would hold a peaceful protest in Abuja tomorrow. “The protest is just the beginning. If the government does not listen, we will take other steps,” Lawal added. ASUP resumed its strike on October 4, 2013 while COEASU embarked on the strike on December 18, 2013. Stay updated with all Nigeria University news, Polytechnic news, Post-Utme, Jamb Results and more; Join/Like Us now on Facebook and twitter Don’t forget to share this news with your friends using the Share buttons below…

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ASUP Ready To Resume Strike

There are report that, the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) is planning to embark on a nationwide strike next two week.

This was made known to newsmen by the ASUP's National President, Chibuzor Asomugha

It could be recalled that ASUP suspend the nationwide strike on July 16, 2013.

According to the ASUP national President, Chibuzor Asomugha who asserted that, The suspended strike will expire next week and to his consternation Federal government has not implement any of the agreement made.

To this development, ASUP is gearing for another industrial action, which would commence after next week, and would be indefinite.

The union made the appropriate statement on August 13, 2013, Tuesday during the mass protest to 'save public education'in Lagos.

"The suspension of the strike will expire next week and up till now government has not done any single thing in the agreement," said Chibuzor Asomugha , ASUP's National President.

After 81 days of inactivity in polytechnics across Nigeria, the union decided to suspend the strike following the level of progress made in negotiations with the government.

ASUP said that it suspended the strike to allow the Senate Joint Committee on Education to liaise with relevant government agencies with a view to tackling the union's demands within one month.

Among ASUP's demands include the need for constitution of the Governing Councils of Federal Polytechnics; migration of the lower cadre to CONTISS 15 salary scale; and the"worrisome condition" of state-owned polytechnics in the country.

"Government should stop paying lip service to public education," said Mr. Asomugha."The closer you get to this people in government, the more you lose hope."

Dailycampuslink believe that ASUP approach should be different from the current practice which in our opinion would refocus the strategy in industrial dispute. Dailycampuslink don’t subscribed to this whole concept of strike action that has been made notorious. It has not work out anything and I don’t think it’s a panacea to the lingering problems facing education in Nigeria.

Dailycampuslink believe that there has to be alternative to strike to save the future of the teeming students.

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