ASUP: Strike, not only solution to challenges

RECTOR, Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin, Alhaji Mas’ud Elelu, has urged Academic Staff of Polytechnic (ASUP) from taking an extremist position on the bone of contentions between them and owner governments, saying that strike action is not the only solution to challenges confronting education sector in the country.

Addressing journalists on the 25th convocation of the institution scheduled for Thursday in Ilorin on Wednesday, the Rector said that the institution, in its usual characteristic, did not join the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnic (ASUP) strike.

Elelu, who said that academic staff of the institution would be involved in the convocation ceremony, expressed displeasure that the ASUP decided to embark on the nation-wide strike.

ALSO READ: Court Remands Teenager For Allegedly Stealing 15 Yards Of Brocade, N200,000 Cash

He said though the polytechnic education is confronted with many challenges in the country, an industrial action is not the only way to find solutions to the challenges, advising that the ASUP would have taken the option of the strike as the last resort.

“If you are going on strike, you should first look at the situation not only of the country but also your schools and other relevant factors otherwise we will all lose out”, he counseled.

The Rector also said that members of the ASUP in his institution did not join the strike not because the institution did not have challenges but because the ASUP members believed that strike is not the solution, “and we’re also alive to the yearnings of the stakeholders who include parents and the students”.

Elelu urged that while the ASUP should not consider strike as the only solution the federal government should also not be adamant on its position saying that, “both parties should look for ways they can avoid going to the extreme”.

The rector disclosed that 104 among the graduating students came out with Distinction in their academic performance.

He said that the polytechnic in the last eight year had enjoyed stable academic calendar and was recently rated by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) as sixth most sought after by admission candidates.