Day FG, ASUP, students trade words over demands

“Please, stop using our names for your selfish gains,” the students warned their lecturers.Trouble started shortly after the National President of the NAPS, Mr. Ogbunnaya Sunday, has made his remark at the meeting. In his terse speech, the students’ leader blamed the lecturers for being selfish in the demands they have made during their meeting […]

“Please, stop using our names for your selfish gains,” the students warned their lecturers.
Trouble started shortly after the National President of the NAPS, Mr. Ogbunnaya Sunday, has made his remark at the meeting.
In his terse speech, the students’ leader blamed the lecturers for being selfish in the demands they have made during their meeting with the Federal Government.
Sunday specifically accused the lecturers of omitting from the list of their demands, the main concern of the students which he identified as the needless dichotomy between the HND and BSc certificates
He said: “Honestly, we are disappointed in you because most of the demands you have presented to the government are not in favour of the students. You have not included the HND/BSc dichotomy in the list of demands you presented to government. Please, stop using our names for your selfish gains.”
He regretted that thousands of students, who were supposed to have graduated last year, are still at home because of the long-drawn industrial action by the ASUP.
Sunday, therefore, warned that the students of polytechnics, all over the country, will take to the streets if the industrial dispute is not resolved within two weeks.
However, when the National President of ASUP, Chibuzo Asomugha, stood to make his remark, he wondered if the lecturers were invited for a meeting with the ministry of education on how to end their strike, or were invited there to be embarrassed by their students.
Asomugha’s contention was that the students’ leader was not among the people scheduled to make remarks at the gathering, going by the agenda of the meeting. He alleged that the agenda was deliberately altered to give Sunday a chance to embarrass ASUP executives.
He, also, faulted the ministry for not sending a formal invitation to ASUP before going to press to publicize the meeting, saying they only read on the pages of newspapers that the minister will meet with the ASUP executives.
He said: “I don’t know whether we are invited to be insulted by the students we are teaching or to face cameras. We only read on the pages of the newspapers that the minister of education is going to hold a meeting with us, we were not formally informed.”
Asomugha also questioned the sincerity of the federal government for spreading stories about the meeting before the lecturers were told about the agenda of the meeting.
At this point, the Supervising Minister of Education, Barrister Nyeson Wike, interjected and took over the stage. He disputed the ASUP president’s claims, saying the agenda of the meeting was never altered by inviting the NAPS president to make a remark and or by allowing the media to publicize the meeting.
Barrister Wike argued that “it is normal for the media to publicize government activities; there is nothing wrong in publicizing this meeting in the media. When you go to media and accuse the federal government, no one stops you.”
He also pointed out that he did not table any matter at the meeting before the remark of the students’ leader and, therefore, cannot be justifiably accused of altering the agenda of the meeting.
On the speech of the NAPS president, the minister explained that the students’ leaders had some days ago, came to the ministry, seeking permission to be part of the meeting, adding that as education stakeholders, he considered their request and granted them permission to attend the meeting.
However, when the ASUP president was asked to continue with his speech, he responded to the allegations made by the NAPS president.
He said that contrary to NAPS’s claim, the polytechnics lecturers had included the issue of discrimination against polytechnic graduates in their 13-point demand, adding, however, that it was omitted when the government’s team chose four issues, out of the 13 demands, presented to it.
He said: “For your information, my president, it was the federal government that selected the four demands, out of the 13 we presented to it. They identified these four demands as short-term problems that can be resolved within a short time. The ministry says the HND/BSc dichotomy could not be resolved within a short time, hence, dropped it until another time.”
He added that even the NEEDS assessment committee set up to tour polytechnics and assess the level of decay in the system, has not started its work because government said it must be funded by the TETFUND which hasn’t released any money to the committee.
But when Wike returned to the stage, he disputed all the claims made by ASUP president, advising the president to always put the records straight while addressing public.
Wike said the ASUP president was selective in his criticism of the NAPS president as he didn’t address the students’ leader’s criticism of the government.
He also said the selection of the four, out of the 13 demands of ASUP, was jointly done by the federal government and the ASUP executives, adding there was no way government can do so without the participation of the ASUP executives.
He said: “We are not military government. Until you concur government’s decision, we cannot single handedly finalize on any demand you presented to us. In one of our meetings, you assured government that you will call off the strike if government agrees to constitute governing council and after constituting the council, you said until it is inaugurated, we have inaugurated the council but you still refused to call off the strike.”
He said the federal government has addressed the issue of CONTISS 15 salary structure and included it in the 2014 budget, adding that what remains now is to pay the 20.4 billion arrears.
Speaking to Daily Trust on the outcome of the meeting, Mr. Asomugha said: “The government made a proposal of paying the arrears of CONTISS 15 in installments but we haven’t accepted the offer at the meeting.
“We have told the minister that we will go back to our NEC and discuss the matter and whatever decision the NEC takes, we will inform the ministry. That is our stand for now.”
Also speaking to Daily Trust, the Special Assistant to the supervising minister on media, Mr. Simon Nwakaudu, described the meeting as fruitful as according to him, it has yielded positive result.
Nwakaudu said: “Federal Government has proposed to the ASUP that it will pay the CONTISS 15 arrears of N20.4bn in two installments and the association had pledged to report back to the ministry after its NEC meeting. The ministry is hoping to end the strike in two weeks time.”
It would be recalled that lecturers of the polytechnics under the auspices of Academic Staff Union of Polytechnic (ASUP) had in October last year embarked on an indefinate strike in a bid to force FG address their 13 demands.
However, only time can tell whether the long-drawn industrial action by the ASUP will end in the nearest future.