The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) in the Federal Polytechnic Mubi, announced on Wednesday that it has aligned with its national body over its current strike action.
Officials of the Mubi chapter of ASUP who addressed newsmen at the campus of the polytechnic in the Adamawa State capital, Yola, said its national body was right in starting the strike over unpreparedness of the Federal Government to address the needs of the polytechnic sector as articulated by the national body.
Chairman of the Federal Polytechnic Mubi chapter of ASUP, Comrade Hussaini James, told newsmen at the briefing that polytechnics and all things to do with them have been serially neglected by the Federal Government.
Mentioning some of the areas in which he accused the Federal Government of having failed the polytechnics, Hussaini James said, “Government lies down on otherwise simple things: things it can do without breaking a sweat. What does it take government to constitute governing councils (for polytechnics)? What does it take to pay minimum wage arrears?
“In the polytechnics we suffer total neglect, total abandonment. Technical and vocational education is very important but most aspects have been neglected and abandoned. We are like orphans. We have nothing to hold on to. If you see most of our laboratories, you will shed tears. Everything is inadequate. Most of what exist are obsolete.”
He said such state of things and apparent noncommitmemt by government compelled the nationwide strike which the parent ASUP started on Tuesday.
“We align totally with ASUP at the national level, ” Comrade Hussaini James asserted, adding, “We are suffering greatly in the polytechnic sector but we felt we should not be going on strike frequently so we opt for dialogue most of the time, but it is always like you are dialoguing with the deaf.
“That’s why this strike had to start. We hope that parents and students will understand. We got to the strike option in the hope that the Federal Government will do what it should do to reposition the system.” Joins Nationwide Strike
The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) in the Federal Polytechnic Mubi, announced on Wdnesday that it has aligned with its national body over its current strike action.
Officials of the Mubi chapter of ASUP who addressed newsmen at the campus of the polytechnic in the Adamawa State capital, Yola, said its national body was right in starting the strike over unpreparedness of the Federal Government to address the needs of the polytechnic sector as articulated by the national body.
Chairman of the Federal Polytechnic Mubi chapter of ASUP, Comrade Hussaini James, told newsmen at the briefing that polytechnics and all things to do with them have been serially neglected by the Federal Government.
Mentioning some of the areas in which he accused the Federal Government of having failed the polytechnics, Hussaini James said, “Government lies down on otherwise simple things: things it can do without breaking a sweat. What does it take government to constitute governing councils (for polytechnics)? What does it take to pay minimum wage arrears?
“In the polytechnics we suffer total neglect, total abandonment. Technical and vocational education is very important but most aspects have been neglected and abandoned. We are like orphans. We have nothing to hold on to. If you see most of our laboratories, you will shed tears. Everything is inadequate. Most of what exist are obsolete.”
He said such state of things and apparent noncommitmemt by government compelled the nationwide strike which the parent ASUP started on Tuesday.
“We align totally with ASUP at the national level, ” Comrade Hussaini James asserted, adding, “We are suffering greatly in the polytechnic sector but we felt we should not be going on strike frequently so we opt for dialogue most of the time, but it is always like you are dialoguing with the deaf.
“That’s why this strike had to start. We hope that parents and students will understand. We got to the strike option in the hope that the Federal Government will do what it should do to reposition the system.”
