ASUP urges FG to be more committed to poly education

The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) on Wednesday urged the Federal Government to be more committed to the growth of polytechnic education in the country.

Mr Nureni Yekini, Chairman of ASUP, Yaba College of Technology Chapter, Lagos, made the plea in an interview with our correspondent in Lagos.

He said that polytechnic education had not received the desired attention from the government.

According to him, polytechnic education is based on practicals, and needs a lot of investment in equipment, laboratories, research and technical manpower.

Yekini said: “In the polytechnic, you need to teach people to acquire skills to manufacture, produce and become self-sufficient to transform the economy of the country.

“In the situation whereby you do not have the necessary tools, equipment and facilities to do all that, then what are we talking about?”

He said that remuneration of teachers and lecturers in the country could also be better.

“If the federal government is sincere and it wants us to wake up from the slumber that the country is in now, there is need for it to take polytechnic education seriously.

“Otherwise, we cannot go beyond where we are presently. There must be serious commitment, both financially and policy wise.

“We will continue to make noise and complain, but the problem will persist because our government hasn’t paid attention to technical education,” he said.

Yekini also spoke on a 21-day ultimatum the union gave the Federal Government to address some demands.

He said that members of the union would down tools completely, if there was no positive response.

The ASUP chairman said the Federal Government must do something fast, especially in the area of technical, vocational and entrepreneurial training, to save the sector.

“In Nigeria, we are still importing toothpicks and other commodities that can be produced here locally, thereby, weakening our own currency,” he said.

Yekini said that there was a high level of importation, noting that importing things and changing foreign currency had its implications on the economy.

“If the government is sincere, they will take the polytechnic education with much seriousness and commitment, to produce skilled manpower that will shape the future of this country,” he said.

Recall that the polytechnic teachers’ union had on Oct. 2 held an emergency National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Abuja to appraise response to some pressing issues in the sector, and given the Federal Government a 21-day ultimatum to address their grievances.

The union, at the meeting, noted that the renegotiation of the its agreement with the Federal Government has been stalled and had yet to commence in actual terms.

It said that the committee which was designed to complete its assignment on or before December 2017, had not done so.

According to the union, terms of settlement as contained in the memorandum of settlement had yet to be satisfactorily implemented.

The union said that the NEEDS Assessment report of 2014 remained unimplemented while shortfall in personnel releases persisted in some Federal Polytechnics, among other issues.

The 21-day ultimatum given the federal government expires on Oct. 22.