We’re fed up with same salary structure for 12 years, ASUP tells federal, states govts

The polytechnic lecturers in the country have expressed disappointment on both federal and state governments for leaving them on the salary structures they had been since 12 years ago, saying they were fed up with the situation.

They also accused both levels of government of consistently paying lip service to the education sector from primary to tertiary levels, saying such attitude would continue to thwart the progress of Nigeria and its people.

The President of their umbrella body, Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), Dr Anderson Ezeibe, gave these positions in an exclusive interview with Nigerian Tribune on Sunday.

According to him, the polytechnic lecturers have been on the same salary structures which are even very small for the past 12 years and this situation is killing us.

He said the increasing inflation which is pushing up the prices of goods and services each day in the country and coupled with the devaluation of the Naira has made complete nonsense of the real value of their monthly salary.

According to him, our take-home monthly pay is not taking us anywhere as the naira has been devalued by up to 250 per cent or more of what the value was 12 years ago and this is making our survival difficult.

He said ASUP expectation from the government this New Year is to complete particularly in this first quarter the renegotiation of their last agreement made in 2010 by reviewing upward the terms and conditions of their services and start the implementation without delay.

While noting that up till now Federal Government had not released the revitalisation funds and also about N5 billion minimum wage arrears owed the federal polytechnic lecturers nationwide several months after approval, the ASUP boss explained that the condition of state-owned polytechnic workers is worse.

He said only two out of the 36 states of the federation are implementing minimum wage for their polytechnic workers while the rest are not many years after the policy had become a law

He said the major problem with the people in the corridors of power is not lack of money but because they lack the political will to invest significantly in the education sector.

He said the government at both the federal and the state levels would need to get their priority right this year by stopping spending on what he called frivolities and giving deserved attention to education, saying that is the only way for Nigeria to attain genuine economic prosperity.

He said even though ASUP always embark on industrial actions as last resort, it would continue with its struggle this year with the government to see that things are put in the right perspective for the good of polytechnic education and the country’s economy.

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