10th April, 2014
National President, Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, ASUP Chibuzo Asomugha, has stated that the Supervising Minister of Education, Nyeson Wike, seems to be distracted by other ‘activities’ for neglecting the union after six month of embarking on a nationwide strike .
In an exclusive chat with P.M.NEWS Campus Square, Asomugha noted that all efforts made by the union to get the Federal Government heed to their call have been futile, despite the fact that they have had series of protests, the latest of which took place on Monday, 7 April, 2014.
“It does not seem as if anything is working out again. The minister has refused to invite us for another meeting and he definitely looks distracted from our cause. We have tries everything human to make our demands known to the FG but everything seems to be falling on deaf ears.
“We have not been invited to have any meeting with the government despite the fact that we have made our grievances known to them. The students have been at home for about six months and the government is not doing anything about it.
“Honestly speaking, we have been pushed to the wall and it seems there is nothing we can do to salvage the situation. If you sincerely know of any other means to press home our demands, you can tell us, because everything seems impossible as it stands now,” the union head lamented.
Asomugha disclosed that members of the union will hold a meeting to discuss the way forward for them to seek a truce with the FG to end the industrial action.
He said: “We shall meet with our members and think of how to chart a way forward for the union. We are not backing down despite the negligence on the part of the federal government but we shall seek other means of ensuring that our demands are met and to also ensure that our members are not frustrated.”.
The striking lecturers had on Friday, 4 October, 2013, declared an indefinite nationwide strike to press home their demands from the Federal Government.