A day after it closed its gates in compliance to the nationwide strike embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), The Polytechnic, Ibadan, has resumed academic activities.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that ASUP had, on Tuesday, declared an indefinite strike to demand the implementation of a new salary scheme for polytechnic lecturers.
Part of ASUP’s demands includes the implementation of a new salary scale for polytechnic lecturers and payment of salaries and allowances to lecturers owed by some state governments.
On Tuesday, union members arrived at The Polytechnic, Ibadan, to begin enforcement.
‘We are not complying’
Lecturers at the institution have, however, said they were not part of the ongoing nationwide industrial action called by the national body of ASUP.
A NAN correspondent, who visited the institution, observed that normal academic activities were going on, with students seen in their various classes receiving lectures.
One of the lecturers, Biodun Akere, told NAN that the school calendar was still running, adding that students had been receiving lectures unhindered since the commencement of the second semester of the 2019/2020 academic session.
“Our students and lecturers are on campus, with normal academic activities going on unhindered.
“We are not complying with the industrial action declared by ASUP because our local branch doesn’t have any leadership as at present,” Mr Akere said.
Another lecturer, who spoke under condition of anonymity, said the institution’s chapter of ASUP had been without leadership since 2017, saying that this had accounted for the non-compliance with the national body’s directive.
When contacted, the Public Relations Officer of the polytechnic, Soladoye Adewole, said the institution’s lecturers were not on strike and that normal academic activities were going on unabated.
“Our lecturers are not on strike. We are running the semester as it should go,” he said.
NAN reports that the polytechnic branch of ASUP was proscribed by management during the tenure of Olatunde Fawole as the rector, due to allegations of violation of electoral rules.
The face-off resulted in the polytechnic instituting legal action against the union under the chairmanship of Mr Ajadi Keleani, with the case still pending in the court. (NAN)