Academic activities of The Polytechnic, Ibadan was disrupted on Tuesday as the Non-Academic Staff Union of Polytechnic, (NASUP), The Polytechnic, Ibadan Chapter commenced an indefinite strike over non-payment of their outstanding eight months’ salary arrears.
Members of NASUP in their hundreds, trooped out and locked the main gate of the school to prevent other staffers and students gaining access while commercial vehicles known to be operating within the polytechnic premises were also prevented.
The Chairman of the union, Ibrahim Akande said, Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) had embarked on indefinite industrial since January 14, and had yet to receive the attention of the school’s management and the government
He further stated that “what we are agitating for is eight months’ salary arrears, owed us by the government since 2017, we have held series of meetings with the management and Oyo State Government, all to no avail’.
‘So we are agitating for our right, we have shut down the institution, because there is nothing we can do than to go on strike, we are staging a peaceful protest, and there will be a press conference at the NLC secretariat’
The NASUP members chased out students with canes to return to their various hostels, rather than attending classes
A 300 level student identified as Kemi from Mass Communication Department recalled “We were chased away with cane by members of the NASU (sic) at the Poly Microfinance Bank to go back to our respective hostels, Lectures was also put on hold as our lecturers were locked outside the school compound’.
“The union tends to be very angry, we pray the government sees to the opinion of NASU faster because we want our academics to move on, we can’t afford to see our time being wasted’, Kemi said.
The Head of Department, Mass communication, Olusoji Olatunji while reacting to the development expressed dissatisfaction in the way the government responded to the complaints of the union, adding that the strike would have a negative effect on the student academic activities in the school.
“The NASU were angry and they paralysed lectures in the campus, they are wasting the students time which will affect the academic calendar, unfortunately the resumption cannot be predicted because the strike is indefinitely.
