Proposed ASUP Strike Suspended

This is to inform you that the proposed strike action by the Academic staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) that was expected to take off today has been officially suspended.

This was followed after the 5-hour long meeting the union had yesterday with the Federal Government delegates.

According to the union the discussions it had with government and other stakeholders were fruitful.

It was learnt that Shekarau has ordered the immediate withdrawal of the circular suspending the controversial CONTISS 15 and restoration of union activities in the the Federal Polytechnic, Oko in

Gist From AOCOED: 7 Weeks Strike Still On

Former Lagos State College of Education now Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education Lagos, had embark on her strike seven weeks ago over unpaid remuneration and allowances to its staffs by the state government for 18months.

However, activities had shut down at the premises, all sundry effort to call it off by the student unions and other able forum had fell on sloppy ground of staff,hence they insist until the state government put measure in place to meet their target thus the striking action persist till further awareness.

We implore the Lagos State Government to ensure quick respond to this ugly situation.

Paul from Lagos reporting

Fed Poly Oko Rector Urges ASUP to End Strike

The Rector of the Federal Polytechnic Oko, Professor Godwin Onu, has called on the Academic staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) to call off the protracted strike action in the interest of the students.

According to him the strike action has made students who ought to have graduated to remain at home while those who have been admitted are yet to resume lectures.

It is expected that the meeting involving ASUP executives, joint committee of the National Assembly representing the Federal Government, Ministries of education, finance and labour today will bring an end to the strike.

ASUP Strike: Federal Polytechnic Bida Pulls Out

The strike action embarked by the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, ASUP as a way of protesting unmet demands by the Federal government seems to be growing weaker by the day as many of the polytechnics keep pulling out of the strike.

The Federal Polytechnic Bida as we learnt has also pulled out of the ASUP strike.

According to a statement by the Registrar of the institution, this notice on resumption is for the good of the students.

The statement reads thus;

The Academic Board at its statutory meeting held today June 23, 2014 considered the Report from the Joint Committee of Deans/Directors and Central Examination Committee on the above-cited subject matter decided as follows:

1. The Polytechnic to reopen for the 2012/2013 Second Semester on WEDNESDAY June 25, 2014 to enable the students come to the Halls of Residence.

2. Academic activities to commence on Monday, June 30, 2014 for all students (including all DCE students).

3. Both the 2013/2014 and 2014/2015 Academic Sessions are now collapsed into a new “2014/2015 SESSION” and

ASUP Strike: Polytecnic Students Gives FG 2 Weeks To Resolve Strike

 

Polytechnic Students under the umbrella of the National Association of Polytechnic Students has given the federal government two weeks to sort out issues with the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics and ensure that the strike is called off or face the wrath of Nigerian Students.

This was made known on Tuesday in Abuja by the President of NAPS, Mr. Sunday Ogbonnaya during an interview.

According to him it is the students that are bearing the brunt of the strike.

BIDAPOLY Pulls out of ASUP Strike

In a memo released by the Registrar of the institution, Chief Bisi Adeyemi titled “request to suspend strike” it was stated that this decision was reached after series of meeting between the management of the polytechnic and ASUP branch of Federal Polytechnic Bida in persuading the union to call off the lingering strike yielded no result.

The management therefore in a bid to enable the polytechnic to complete the Second Semester of the 2012/2013 academic session and also to avoid a total collapse of the institution has decided to call off the lingering strike.

Consequently, all staff of the institution has been mandated to suspend their actions immediately and resume work to enable the Polytechnic, at least, commence and conclude the year 2012/2013 Second Semester as it had been confirmed that this Polytechnic is lagging behind all the other 22 Federal Polytechnics in the country in all spheres of Academic activities.

Excerpts of the memo read, “It has been confirmed that currently, some of the Federal Polytechnics did not join or had suspended their participation in the on-going strike, to attend to their peculiar challenges (similar to what is obtainable in Bida) – such Polytechnics include Auchi, Bali, Damaturu, Offa, Kebbi, Ede, Ilaro, Ado-Ekiti, to mention just eight. Also about twenty of the Federal Polytechnics had concluded their 2012/2013 Academic sessions before joining the strike, unlike the situation in this Polytechnic.

Management notes that admissions of candidates for the 2013/2014 for ND and

FG Approves N20.4b Arrears To Striking ASUP

 

The Federal Government on Tuesday agreed to pay N20.4 billion arrears of new salary structure to the striking polytechnic lecturers, Supervising Minister for Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, has said.

Wike made this known at a meeting with the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) and the National Association of Polytechnic Students (NAPS) in Abuja.

He said what was delaying the payment was an agreement by both parties on the modalities for the payment.
According to him, the CONTISS salary structure being agitated for by the union had been approved and also included in the 2014 budget.

The minister said with the

Strike Paralyses LASUTH, LUTH, Others

Patients at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja and the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba deserted the hospitals as a result of the warning strike embarked upon by health workers in the country.

Our correspondent who monitored the strike in LASUTH and LUTH on Wednesday observed that it was only doctors that were in the clinics and the wards of the hospitals.

There were no patients at the medical records section, the eye and dental clinics, among others.

A doctor, who spoke on condition of anonymity at LASUTH, said though the

Strike: FG Agrees To Pay ASUP N20b Salary Arrears

 

Striking lecturers under the aegis of Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) have gotten assurance from Federal Government to pay N20.4 billion salary arrears owed the lecturers.

The information came to the fore on Tuesday, in Abuja when the Supervising Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike, held a joint meeting with executive members of ASUP and the National Association of Polytechnic Students (NAPS).

He however said as soon as modalities for the payment are agreed upon between both parties, the payment will be effected.

He said the CONTISS salary structure being agitated for by the union had been approved and also included in the 2014 budget.

He said the CONTISS issue had brought the resolution of three out of four of the demands being made by the lecturers.

Wike at the meeting noted that the only outstanding issue yet to be resolved was the

FG To Meet With ASUP Over Lingering Strike

Report Reaching Nigeria Education Updates State that in a bid to resolve the ongoing seven months strike embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, ASUP, the Federal Government would meet with the leadership of the union today in Abuja.

The meeting is expected to be presided over by the Supervising Minister of Education, Barr. Nyesom Wike.
The Minister will after the meeting brief leaders of the National Association of Polytechnic Students on efforts of the Federal Government to improve polytechnic education in the country.

The meeting is also aimed at reaching an agreement on the last issue yet to be resolved from the list of demands placed by ASUP before the Federal Government.

Under the High Impact Development Scheme through TETFUND, the administration invested N12 billion to improve facilities in 12 selected polytechnics, with each of the polytechnics getting N1billion .

The administration also released a grant of N1 billion to federal and state polytechnics for the

Strike: ASUP, COEASU Lock Horns With FG

The ongoing strike by unions in the nation’s polytechnics and colleges of education comes on the heels of the over five-month-old strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities.

In a three-page letter dated December 18, 2013, President of the National Association of Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union, Mr. Asagha Nkoro, spelt out in clear terms why the union was embarking on the strike action it commenced last month.

In the letter, COEASU stated that the Federal Government had failed to honour its agreement with the union despite having a series of talks with it between September and December 2013.

“It is common knowledge that COEASU leadership had always felt that the talks held so far with government representatives were well-intentioned.

“While the government held series of talks with the union leadership between September and December 2013 (specifically six times; four of which were attended by the appropriate Minister of Education and also Labour and Productivity), evidences abound that the government does not wish to keep her side of the bargain in meeting the understanding reached at such meetings. This, without equivocation, is unacceptable to our union given the peculiar high nuisance and volatile nature of the colleges of education sector,” the letter read.

On December 18, 2013, COEASU embarked on the

No Sympathy For Striking Poly, CoE lecturers

Academic activities have, for some time, stopped at most polytechnics and colleges of education due to strike by lecturers, but nobody seems to pay attention to them.

Disappointment is simply the lot of the National President of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, Mr. Chibuzor Asomugha, as he discusses the fate of the nation’s polytechnic education.

Sounding dejected, the ASUP President notes that the Federal Government is not enthusiastic about developing the polytechnic sector. According to him, the government has failed to show reasonable good faith and commitment toward uplifting the polytechnic sector in general and particularly in resolving the ongoing strike by polytechnic lecturers.

He says, “It will not be wrong to say that government has been irresponsible and insensitive to the challenges in the polytechnic sector. Government has not been sincere in the scant attention it has paid ASUP in the course of this engagement.”

The despondence is not limited to Asomugha. A Higher National Diploma undergraduate of the Offa Polytechnic in Kwara State, Emma Idu, also sounded dejected on

Strike aftermath: Life Returns As Varsities Resume

Although the six-month strike embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, was called off on December 16, 2013, academic activities have only just begun in earnest in universities across the country

The strike was called off just in time for the Christmas holidays and stakeholders in the sector took advantage of the situation to enjoy the festivities. After spending nearly seven months away from the academic environment courtesy of the strike and the holidays, many students have returned to school with mixed feelings.

A master’s student at the University of Lagos who did not want her name in print said: “I can barely remember the course titles that I am offering this semester or even my matriculation number.

And from the feedback I am getting from my colleagues, we would most likely begin examinations in February as soon as the undergraduate students are done.

Meanwhile, there are some classes that haven’t held in this semester even before the strike. There aren’t even available lecturers for

Strike: ASUP Blames FG For Abandoning Polytechnic Education

Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, ASUP, has alleged abandonment by the Federal Government as the strike declared by lecturers in the sub-sector enters its seventh month.

ASUP had gone on strike April 17, 2013, to press home demands for government’s proper funding of polytechnic education as well as address the disparity between the polytechnics and university graduates in the country.

ASUP president laments
National President of ASUP, Mr. Chibuzor Asomugha, lamented that the government was killing polytechnic education in Nigeria as several meetings held with government to ensure re-opening of polytechnics yielded no fruits.

Asomugha argued that the lack of interest by government to implement its promises for polytechnics to be re-opened was a deliberate ploy to deny students of Polytechnics access to education.

Expressing concern that efforts to draw the attention of the Nigerian public might be given political colouration and union leaders branded as working for opposition political parties against the government, Asomugha appealed to all relevant stakeholders to intervene on behalf of the poor students who might not have somebody in government to speak for them.

Lack of interest from FG
On why government has not shown interest in the lingering strike, the ASUP boss appealed to relevant stakeholders to prevail on the government, Minister of Education, Permanent Secretary and Minister of Labour to do the needful.

He said: “I am not going to be talking for government, we have been in this, they have given us promises, they have not been fulfilling them.

“The promises were simple things, we even had the understanding where they promised to implement within one week and it is more than four months now, everybody should reach government and let them tell Nigerians what are the problems. I cannot be speaking for government, what I know is that

LASU Strike: Union Urges Govt To Release Resolution

The Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities, Lagos State University, Ojo Chapter, wants the State Government to release the resolution of the meeting held between both parties in November 2013.

Mr Saheed Oseni, the chairman of the chapter, told the News Agency of Nigeria on Tuesday in Lagos that the union would not call off its ongoing strike until it received the resolution.

He said that the members had rejected a plea by the state government that they should resume work and await a copy of the resolution.

“Congress had concluded that the union must receive the resolution of the meeting it held with the representatives of the government before it suspends its strike.

“This is because we ought to have an official document to refer to in the future,” he said.

Oseni said that

No Going Back On Strike, ASUP Says

 

The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics has insisted that it will continue with the ongoing strike until government meets its demands.

Speaking with our correspondent, the ASUP President, Chibuzor Asomugha, who lamented the discrimination in the nation’s education sector, said it was wrong for the government to treat polytechnics issues with disdain.

“Their thinking that it is only the children of the poor that attend the polytechnics is wrong,” he said.

Asomugha noted that due to promises made by the Federal Government to the union, it suspended its strike on July 16, 2013 for one month. But the lecturers resumed strike on October 4 after the government failed to respect the pact.

Stressing that the situation was getting out of control, he said the union was embarrassed by the insensitivity of the government concerning the place of polytechnic education in the nation’s development.

“There is no mitigation for this level of insensitivity by government; we are approaching the

SSANU Threatens Strike, Warns FG

The Senior Staff Association of the Nigerian Universities (SSANU),Western Zone, yesterday threatened to down tools if the Federal Government decides to fully implement the Needs Assessment Report which it described as poisonous to Non-Academic Staff in universities.

Addressing newsmen on the issues raised by the Prof. Yakubu led Needs Assessment Committee at a lecture held at the University of Benin (UNIBEN), the National Vice President and chairman Western Zone, of the SSANU, Comrade Alfred Jimoh, said the association had earlier faulted the composition of the Needs committee set up by the Federal Government to identify the gaps in the university system.

He said the committee was not only “lopsided but one sided because it excluded both students and the non-teaching staff in the system and compromise only members of the Academic Staff and the then incumbent President of ASUU. “The report of the committee is laced with some poisonous and odious recommendations against the Non teaching staff, which we

ASUU calls off strike 2013 - Now Official

Appearing on Channels TV, the national president of ASUU, Sir Fagge, confirmed the suspension of the ASUU strike for 2013, which began on July 1st.

All ASUU branches nationwide are by this announcement advised to resume work starting today, 17th Dec, 2013.

This has put to end any controversies about speculations that the ASUU strike as now been called off.

He made certain comments about general development on education in Nigeria, saying the

ASUU Strike: Students Disappointed as ESUT Postpones Examination

The second semester examination of the Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT) could not hold on December 9, 2013, Monday, due to the
absence of lecturers.

The university had previously announced commencement of the examination on December 2, 2013, following Federal
Government's directive for the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to resume work.

The students at the Enugu Campus were waiting
for question papers. In vain. Prof. Joseph Aneke, the Dean of the Faculty of management and Social Sciences, said the lecturers were waiting for instruction from the ASUU to resume work.

"There is no instruction from ASUU for academic activities to resume. That is why the examination could not start today.

"Due to the strike, academic activities have
been postponed indefinitely until the strike is
called off.

"It is a pity that students have to go, while
their examinations which were supposed to start today have been postponed", Prof. Aneke stated.

The students were extremely disappointment over the situation, urged ASUU and FG to resolve the impasse and save the students from the embarrassment and risk of travelling.

Edozie Chukwu, 200 level student of Insurance, said he was disappointed that the examination did not hold after travelling all the way from Lagos.

"We are fed up with this whole thing. We
read for this examination only to be

We’re Waiting For Sack Letters, Say Defiant Lecturers

Striking lecturers in the nation’s public universities on Monday made good their decision not to return to work as directed by the Federal Government.

The striking teachers also refused to sign the attendance registers in their respective institutions as ordered by the government.

They said they were only waiting for the sack letters the Federal Government threatened to give them if they did not return to work.

In many of the universities visited by our correspondents, only administrative offices opened for business while the lecture rooms were empty. Particularly, lecturers’ offices remained shut.

Among some of the universities visited by our correspondents were the University of Lagos, University of Ibadan, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, University of Calabar, Nnamdi Azikwe University, Awka, and the University of Uyo.

Others are Obafemi Awolwo University, Ile-Ife, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta and the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye.

The Supervising Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike, had urged the striking lecturers to