Nigerian polytechnic lecturers have vowed not to suspend their two-month-old nationwide strike until the federal government meets all its demands.
The lecturers, members of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, ASUP, gave the ultimatum at their National Executive Council meeting which took place at the Federal Polytechnic, Oko, Anambra State, on Sunday
The union said it observed with dismay, “the nonchalant attitude of government towards exercising political will to meet it demands.” The union also frowned at the leadership crisis rocking the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, NGF, calling on the governors to conduct themselves in line with democratic principles in order to safeguard the political future of the nation.
Condemning the discrimination against polytechnic graduates at entry and in career progression in public service, ASUP called for a level-playing ground for graduates from the various tertiary sectors.
It also demanded that polytechnic education be properly and adequately funded by government, urging it to stop paying lip-service to the technical education sector in the country.
The lecturers also rejected the discriminatory cut-off points for candidates seeking admission into Nigerian Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education and called for harmonization of the cut-off points into tertiary institutions in the country.
They accused the federal government of being dictatorial in the appointment of rectors, and condemned the growing level of corruption in the country’s public service while calling on government to be more proactive in handling the challenges.
However, the union commended the steps so far taken by government in curbing the security challenges in some states of the country and called for more efforts to be made to safeguard lives and property of the citizenry.
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