Lecturers of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta, Ogun state, have called off the industrial action which has paralyzed activities in the institution for over three months.
The teaching staffs have been on strike for three months due to the need to press home their demands from the state government among other things.
Speaking to journalists on the development the chairman of the Academic Staff Union Of Polytechnics in the institution, Mr Kola Abiola, said the suspension of the industrial action became imperative in order to give room for further discussion with the state government on some grey areas of disagreement
The lecturers had embarked on an industrial action to press home their demands on some issues bothering on the relocation of the institution to Ipokia area of the state.
”Today we had an emergency Congress after several appeals of eminent stakeholders within far and the state, the Congress, therefore, decided that we suspend the strike so that we will give the state government to find solutions in all the areas we have raised issues.”
”If you look at our communiqué that are available to you, you will find out that all of them are there, but we didn’t want to go into contentious issues now, the government has all our key issues with them, all the things that we have highlighted are with the government, for the sake of the system that the system might continue to run,” he said
”You all remembered that when the crisis starred we actually went to all those prominent issues to intervene and now that they have intervened we think it is high time to give them the room for discussion and education to continue going on while the academic activities in school can also go on.”
”We have suspended the strike, it remains we should wait for the management to announce when academic activities will commence, we have suspended our strike.”
”We are hoping all thing to be equal, but it seems to be that this is.just a fire brigade approach, you will know that we have never been involved in fire brigade, before we went on strike we have started sensitizing the public about what is going on, since July we have been crying to the public concerning what is going on, and it continues until September before we went on strike, and we felt that the people that have intervened cannot do anything we wouldn’t have suspended the strike, we know that people that have intervened mean well developed for the state in general”
”Maybe those people that are intervening, maybe the government is talking to them, the government policy has been that they don’t want to talk to us, we are not talking to the government, maybe the people that are intervening are talking on our behalf, at the point in time we have an intermediary that we are talking with maybe those are the people they are referring to.”
”I think if there is anybody that has an instrument of blackmailing it should be the government, we never blackmail anybody and I can’t remember any interview or communiqué that has been done by Mapoly ASUP that insulted or blackmail the government, in all our communiqué we treated them well, we are not politicians it’s still the matter the way it is. You can go to all our communiqué and see if you can find any blackmailing information,” he said.