The police on Tuesday disrupted the peaceful protest by the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics and Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union.
The aggrieved lecturers were protesting the refusal of the government to meet their demands for better conditions of service and an enabling teaching environment.
The protest took a different turn when the lecturers were dispersed with water cannon and tear gas while heading for the National Assembly.
The polytechnic lecturers have been on strike since October 2013, while their counterparts in Colleges of Education started theirs since December 2013.
Specifically, ASUP said government had failed to successfully address four of its 13 demands tabled for discussion.
The demands include a comprehensive funding programme for Nigeria’s polytechnics; the establishment of a National Polytechnics Commission; the completion of the review of the Federal Polytechnics Act, the discriminatory drafting of the polytechnic sector into the IPPIS scheme and the appointment of unqualified persons as rectors and principal officers of polytechnics.
The COEASU complaints are infrastructural decay, poor funding, non-implementation of the 2010 FG-COEASU Agreement, poor conditions of service, brain drain and illegal imposition of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System .
Others are refusal to fund the Peculiar and Responsibility Allowances as obtainable in Earned Allowances of the universities; refusal to implement the migration of lower cadres as obtainable in polytechnics; and non-accreditation of programmes of the colleges of education among others
The protesting lecturers had converged on Federal Secretariat, Abuja as early as 9am carrying placards.
The protesting lecturers after being addressed by the Minister of Labour, Emeka Wogu, proceeded to the National Assembly in order to submit their protest letters to Senate President, Senator David Mark and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Aminu Tambuwal.
Unknown to them, the security forces had been waiting in ambush.
After the initial confusion, the lecturers tried to regroup but were again dispersed by the anti-riot police
Punch.
The police on Tuesday disrupted the peaceful protest by the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics and Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union.
The aggrieved lecturers were protesting the refusal of the government to meet their demands for better conditions of service and an enabling teaching environment.
The protest took a different turn when the lecturers were dispersed with water cannon and tear gas while heading for the National Assembly.
The polytechnic lecturers have been on strike since October 2013, while their counterparts in Colleges of Education started theirs since December 2013.
Specifically, ASUP said government had failed to successfully address four of its 13 demands tabled for discussion.
The demands include a comprehensive funding programme for Nigeria’s polytechnics; the establishment of a National Polytechnics Commission; the completion of the review of the Federal Polytechnics Act, the discriminatory drafting of the polytechnic sector into the IPPIS scheme and the appointment of unqualified persons as rectors and principal officers of polytechnics.
The COEASU complaints are infrastructural decay, poor funding, non-implementation of the 2010 FG-COEASU Agreement, poor conditions of service, brain drain and illegal imposition of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System .
Others are refusal to fund the Peculiar and Responsibility Allowances as obtainable in Earned Allowances of the universities; refusal to implement the migration of lower cadres as obtainable in polytechnics; and non-accreditation of programmes of the colleges of education among others
The protesting lecturers had converged on Federal Secretariat, Abuja as early as 9am carrying placards.
The protesting lecturers after being addressed by the Minister of Labour, Emeka Wogu, proceeded to the National Assembly in order to submit their protest letters to Senate President, Senator David Mark and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Aminu Tambuwal.
Unknown to them, the security forces had been waiting in ambush.
After the initial confusion, the lecturers tried to regroup but were again dispersed by the anti-riot police
Punch.