Non-academic staff at Ekowe federal poly are far more than academic – NAPS

The leadership of the National Association of Polytechnic Students (NAPS) has raised the alarm that the non academic staff of the federal polytechnic, Ekowe, Bayelsa state, are 400 per cent more than the academic staff of the institution. The association called on the government to rescue the institution from imminent collapse due to the alleged […]

The leadership of the National Association of Polytechnic Students (NAPS) has raised the alarm that the non academic staff of the federal polytechnic, Ekowe, Bayelsa state, are 400 per cent more than the academic staff of the institution.

The association called on the government to rescue the institution from imminent collapse due to the alleged unscrupulous activities of some members of unions and individuals in the institution.

Addressing journalists in Benin yesterday, the the National President of NAPS, Comrade Eshiofune Ogbayan, charged the government to ensure that the students of the institution resume academic on September 8, 2025 as scheduled.

“Adequate security should be providing for the students and the rector of the school, Dr Lukeman Agbabiaka to be able to resume successfully,” he said.

This, he said, is necessary to rein in some members of the Non Academic Staff Union (NASU) and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Polytechnics (SSANIP) who he alleged were threatening the Rector on the ground that he is not Ijaw but a Yoruba heading a school in Ijaw land.

“Federal government should carry out staff audit in the polytechnic because non-academic staff constitute almost 400 percent than the academic staff of the institution,” he said.

He noted that an institution of learning cant survive when its teaching arm is so heavily outnumbered by clerical hands.

“The ASUP is neither on strike nor in rebellion. Their communique of July 6th 2025, raised safety concerns, not mutiny. They expressed readiness to resume classes immediately once security guaranteed to prevent further physical confrontations like those unleashed by thugs in the past,” he said.

He alleged that some members of the host community were being used to make academic activities unconducive just as he alleged that non-academic staff were made to benefit from Tertiary Education Fund (TertFUND) and they traveled abroad and never return.