Students of Auchi Polytechnic marched
out in their hundreds in a peaceful protest to express their
dissatisfaction about the persistent strike by the Academic Staff Union
of Polytechnic (ASUP) over a number of issues such as unpaid salaries,
undue demotion, sack and suspension of some lecturers alleged to be
corrupt, and other issues which are yet to be addressed by the
government and the polytechnic’s management.
Academic activities in the school have
been in perpetual undulation due to the serial strike actions by the
union. This has cause a setback for the students who until this moment
still have their fate hanged on a limbo.
The academic and administrative
atmosphere in the institution is very tense at the moment. Efforts by
the Students Union Government (SUG) to bring the lecturers and
management to a round table to reach a compromise have proved abortive
as the lecturers are more agitated than ever.
Students, in demonstration of their
frustrations took to the street in a peaceful demonstration to raise the
consciousness of the government to their challenges and frustrations.
They carried boards and placards with several inscriptions that signaled
to the government their plight. However, their protest caused the
blockage of a federal road, shutting down movement for two hours.
The SUG pleads with the government to
come to the aid of the students and academic staffs alike because as the
saying goes, “when two elephants fight, it is the grasses that
suffers”. Students are at the receiving end of the struggle between the
lecturers and management.Also, The constant encroachment of the previous year’s academic calendar
into this year, non-mobilisation of students for the National Youth
Service Corps (NYSC), and the giddy flow of academic activities (to
mention a few) in the institution is one too many. The government should
intervene with swiftness before the situation degenerates to a barbaric
and bestial stage.
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