Lecturers at Ibadan Poly shun ASUP nationwide strike

Ibadan Polytechnic lecturers have avoided the nationwide strike started by the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP).

ASUP, on Tuesday, commenced an indefinite strike to request for the execution of a new salary scheme for polytechnic lecturers.

The demands of ASUP are implementation of a new salary scale for polytechnic lecturers and payment of salaries and allowances to lecturers owed by some state governments among others.

Ibadan Polytechnic lecturers, however, disclosed that they were not part of the ongoing nationwide strike embarked upon by the national body of Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics.

A Top Naija journalist who paid a visit to the institution witnessed that normal academic activities were going on, with students seen in their different classes receiving lectures.

One of the lecturers, Mr Biodun Akere, revealed to Top Naija that the school calendar was still running, stating that students had been receiving lectures without hindrance from the beginning of the second semester of 2019/2020 academic session.

Akere said, “Our students and lecturers are on campus, with normal academic activities going on unhindered.

“We are not complying with the industrial action declared by ASUP because our local branch doesn’t have any leadership as at present.”

Another lecturer who did not want to be named declared that the institution’s chapter of ASUP had been without leadership since 2017, stating that this had explained the failure to comply with the directive of the national body.

At the point when reached, the Public Relations Officer of the polytechnic, Alhaji Soladoye Adewole, stated that the lecturers of the institution were not on strike and that normal academic activities were going on continuously.

He said, “Our lecturers are not on strike. We are running the semester as it should go.”

Top Naija reports that the polytechnic branch of ASUP was prohibited by management during the term of Prof. Olatunde Fawole as the rector owing to claims of infringement of electoral rules.

The confrontation brought about the polytechnic instituting legal action against the union under the chairmanship of Mr Ajadi Keleani, with the case still unresolved in the court.