NAPS begs Jonathan to intervene in ASUP’s strike

The seven-month-old strike embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, has indeed taken its toll on polytechnic students around the country.  With no end in sight to the strike, the National Association of Polytechnic Students, NAPS, has called upon President Goodluck Jonathan to intervene in the situation.

 
In an open letter to Mr. President signed by the Senate President of the association, Mr. Adeyemi Lukman, the polytechnic students urged the president to negotiate with  ASUP leaders as he did with the leaders of the Academic Staff Union of Universities. It read: “Sir,
we appreciate the efforts in single-handedly intervening in ASUU strike which took you more than 10 hours with the union leaders to ensure our colleagues in the university return  to class after six months of strike.
We would like to request that this same honour be accorded the polytechnics. The Nigerian students of polytechnics, monotechnics, colleges of education and colleges of technology which we represent, clearly understand that the 13-point agreement which the Federal Government made with ASUP in 2009, is for the betterment of Polytechnic education.”

Continuing, Lukman said: “Sir, we crave your indulgence to meet the following demands by ASUP on or before February 17, 2014, or we will we forced to take up residence in protest at the office of the Federal Ministry of Education in Abuja until the strike is over. They include:

*Immediate conversion or extraction of National Polytechnic Commission (NPC) from National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) as obtainable for Nigerian universities governed by Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC), Colleges of Education govern by Nigeria Commission for College of Education (NCCE) and Nomadic education governed by Nomadic Education Commission.