Kebbi ASUP explains position on strike
Kebbi State chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has faulted reports on the suspension of the strike in Waziri Umaru Federal Polytechnic, Birnin Kebbi.
A statement signed by chairman of the chapter, Comrade Kabiru Yunusa, said the newspaper report was a misrepresentation of his position as chairman of ASUP and members of the chapter’s executives.
“What happened was that we called a meeting in order to address the issue of the register opened by management of the institution for our members to sign and collect March salary. The meeting we had was not in any way intended to discuss the strike issue. However, less than 24 hours before the meeting, and days after we dispatched notice of the meeting, we received three letters of plea from Student Union, the emir of Gwandu and management of the institution. It was on that basis that the congress instantly, without recourse to further discussion, revisited the issue of strike. The congress resolved to allow the students come and write the second semester examination for 2012/2013 academic session,” he said.
On reports of actions taken by the federal government on the HND/BSC dichotomy, the chairman said: “I think this is a clear indication that the publisher of the statement is ignorant of the whole process. In the first place, we don’t have a national chairman, but a national president. The HND/Bsc dichotomy is purely administrative”.
Yunusa maintained that the national leadership of ASUP is fighting a legitimate cause “and the chapter is strongly behind them. We believe that the 13 key demands of ASUP are not peculiar to one polytechnic. These demands are for the betterment of the sector and the students, not only for our members. In fact, of the 13 issues, only one can be said to have direct impact on our members, that is; implementation of CONTISS 15 migration and the payments of its arrears. CONTISS 15 migration is salary, not allowance; it is a right. As I speak with you now, the arrears have not been paid. Take the case of the Needs Assessment, of course, they came and did their work but the work has not yet been completed”.