Usman Yusuf Dutse told journalists in
Abuja on Thursday, April 28 2016
that all
efforts for the union to explain the
situations they are facing to attract redress
has failed.
He said the union is left with no other option
than to embark on strike.
Dutse said Polytechnic lecturers ordinary believe
in dialogue, which is why the issues have been
lingering for all this while.
" However, we are now being pushed to resort to
extreme measures in resolving industrial dispute
and we shall act accordingly. We have decided to
place this position before Government and the
Nigerian public for the benefit of the sector and to
challenge government to act now in order to avert
another industrial disharmony in our
polytechnics ."
" We are aware that the issues between
Government and ASUP have lingered for years. We
are also cognisant of the fact that this government
came to power about one year ago but then
Government is a continuum. What is particularly
worrisome to our union is the approach of
officials of Government to the need of our sector
and the pre-eminence of dialogue in resolving the
impasse.”
“ In September, 2015 we had addressed a press
conference, drawing attention of the then
incoming government to these issues and
proposed ways of resolving them. Our expectation
was that the re-constitution of the Federal
Executive Council by Mr. President will nip the
issues in the bud considering the quality of the
appointees and the magnitude of the problems at
hand. Our hope in this direction is gradually
fading away as no concrete step has been taken
to address the issues," He said.
According to him, “ The last signed agreement
between the Federal Government and ASUP made
adequate provisions for re-negotiation which had
been due since 2012. Government has reneged on
this provision and showed unwillingness to
renegotiate a new Agreement with the union. This
attitude has further widened our gap of trust and
entrenched mutual suspicion about government’s
commitment to promoting technological
development in the country," ASUP President
added.
According to Dutse, other issues include failure
to release white paper of visitation panels to
federal polytechnics; non-implementation of
CONTISS 15 migration for the lower cadres and
other academic allowances; underfunding of the
sector and lop-sidedness in funds interventions
by TETFUND.
He also explained that the non- implementation
of the report of the NEEDS assessment of
public polytechnics as well as dichotomy
between HND and degree graduates poses
grave risk to maintaining industrial peace in the
sector.
" In 2014, after intense agitation by our union,
government constituted the Needs Assessment
Committee that undertook the critical assessment
of needs of infrastructure and administrative
competence of all public polytechnics in Nigeria.
The intention was to address the decay of
infrastructure in the sector. It is appallingly
disheartening however that government has, since
the conclusion of that brilliant assignment,
reneged on the release and subsequent
implementation of its own report despite repeated
appeals by our union ," he added.
Dutse said the dichotomy between the
university and Polytechnic graduates places
needless limitations on HND graduates in job
engagements and remunerations as well as
career progression in public service.
" Our graduates are humiliated and made to rue
the career path they chose through polytechnic
education. They are rated far below their degree-
holder counterparts and valued according to the
name of their institutions and not according to
capacity. The Bill seeking to end this Dichotomy
could not pass through the 7th Assembly despite
its urgency and importance and the polytechnic
sector is still the worse off for this tardiness."
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