The Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Polytechnics (SSANIP) has issued a warning of potential industrial action if the federal government fails to implement the long-awaited new scheme of service for the polytechnic sector.
The resolution was among several key decisions reached at the association’s 75th General Executive Council (GEC) meeting, held at Delta State Polytechnic.
In a communique signed by SSANIP’s national president, Comrade Philip Adebanjo Ogunsipe and national secretary, Comrade Nura Shehu Gaya, the union acknowledged the government’s previous interventions that led to the suspension of an earlier planned three-day warning strike.
However, SSANIP made it clear that industrial harmony could not be guaranteed if its demands remained unmet.
SSANIP also expressed concern over the prolonged delay in fully implementing the new minimum wage, which the president signed into law.
The union lamented the financial strain this has placed on Nigerian workers and urged the government to expedite the process, warning that the delay was pushing workers into economic hardship.
The council demanded the immediate payment of wage award arrears from March to July 2024, in line with the government’s commitment to sustaining the payments until the new minimum wage is fully implemented.
SSANIP also criticized the overdue arrears of the 25/35 per cent wage increase for federal polytechnic staff and called for its immediate settlement.
The union strongly opposed the ongoing trend of converting polytechnics into universities, arguing that such actions undermine Nigeria’s technological education system.
It emphasized that while it supports the establishment of new universities, replacing polytechnics with universities weakens the country’s ability to develop skilled technical professionals. SSANIP urged stakeholders to prioritize technological education funding, similar to practices in advanced economies.
SSANIP commended the federal government and security agencies for their efforts in tackling insecurity nationwide and encouraged sustained vigilance.
It also endorsed the proposed ban on tankers carrying 60,000 liters of petroleum products from loading at depots, citing the need to prevent accidents and explosions caused by overloading.
The communique reads, in part, “Council expresses its gratitude to the Honourable ministers of labour and employment and education for their timely interventions on the union’s proposed 3-day warning industrial action. While the proposed strike action was suspended with a strong belief that the right steps would be taken, the union would not guarantee industrial harmony if the agitations of its teeming members are not being treated as has been promised”.
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