By: Gloria Emmanuel The President of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), Chibuzo Asomugha, has said that the union has lost confidence in the Supervising Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike.
The union President stated that the minister is incapable of resolving the current face-off between the federal government and the union, which had led the latter to embark on an industrial action for over 10 months now.
Asomugha who spoke in Abuja on Wednesday during an interactive chat with newsmen, disclosed that the federal government has since March 21st, stopped paying staff salaries, under the ‘’no work no pay rule’’, forcing the union to device several measures to sustain its members.
According to him, “Wike is working at cross purposes with the union in the on-going action, instead of holistically addressing the issues surrounding the strike; he is busy reducing it to an ego fight.
“Rather than pursuing an early resolution of the strike, he is busy balkanizing the issues at stake, turning it into blackmail and politicization”.
Mr Asomugha also regretted that government has so far failed serially, to keep to the promises they made at different occasions, preferring rather to maintain an attitude of snobbery, intimidation, and showing total disdain towards revitalising Nigeria’s educational development.
The union leader who was visibly angered by the fact that President Jonathan have been kept in the dark on the current industrial action, declared that they have lost total confidence on the supervising minster of Education, preferring instead the new negotiating committee set up by the president, with the Minister of Labour, Chukwuemeka Worgu.
He however assured that as soon as the union gets a feedback on their renegotiated demand with the new team, there is the possibility of calling off the strike.
