Use strike as last option, board chair tells ASUP

Chairman of the Governing Council of the Federal Polytechnic, Nekede, Owerri, Chief Edwin Ogunbo, has asked trade unions in Nigeria to use strike as the last option in negotiating trade disputes with their employers.

Ogunbo, speaking at 6th Capacity Workshop organised by the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) at the Federal Polytechnic Nekede yesterday, said that the need to be cautious in always going on strike is because at the end of the day, it’s the staff that would bear the consequences. 

Ogunbo, who was represented by a council member, Prof.  (Mrs.) Joy Oku, reminded ASUP members that being member of ASUP does not insulate them from the system they are part and parcel of, adding that infrastructure negotiation, wisdom is always the best principle to apply. 

National President of ASUP, Comrade Usman Yusuf Dutse, regretted that education is facing serious challenges which threaten the smooth running of schools, adding that agreements are serially violated with obsolete legal frameworks.

He said that while   regulations and supervision are poor, working condition across campuses continue to deteriorate. 

Dutse called for smooth working relations between the management and staff for the growth of polytechnic education in the country.