-Urge unions to listen to them
Comrade Akindele David, the Students’ Union President of the Lagos State Polytechnic
In a brief interviews with the leaders of the three arms of the Lagos State Polytechnic Students’ Union Government on Thursday, March 28, 2019, on the protracted crisis between the institution’s management and the unions, the students’ leaders appealed for peaceful and quick resolution of the matter while also appealing specifically to the union leaders to grant them audience over the matter.
In the interviews with THE IMPACT crew, they also denied allegations that they have been bought over and turned into the Management’s puppets . Excerpt:
IMPACT: Let’s meet your sir?
SUG President: I am Comrade Akindele David, the Students’ Union President of the Lagos State Polytechnic, the Polytechnic of Excellence, 2018/19 Session.
IMPACT: We are fully aware of the crisis and how it is affecting the students, as the students’ leader, how do you think this matter can be permanently resolved?
SUG President: From day one of the crisis, we, as student’s leaders, have been trying to be neutral in the matter. Couples of months back, I met with the Rector and he explained everything to me. He explained how the management were held hostage by the unions which forced the implementation of the unions’ demands due to threat to their lives and according to him, the state government in January of this year ordered him to revert to the payment of the normal salary as against what the school has been implementing and this, according to the Rector, did not go down well with the unions. The following week, I tried to meet with the NASU Chairman but the chairman told me categorically that he has no business with the students and that I should go back to the Rector and tell him to give them what they are demanding for. All my efforts to tell him that we are also stakeholders in the matter proved abortive.
During our examinations, the unions refused to supply power to the school when there was interruption in the power supply by PHCN. The management, however, was able to find another means of supplying power throughout the examinations period . I can also recall how the unions sent messages around before our examinations that there members would not be stampeded to participate in the examinations and that they are going to withhold their services during that period.
Another attempt I that made to resolve the matter was meeting with the students’ union council and others and we resolved to meet the unions at the podium where they were gathered in order to hear their own side of the matter because we don’t really know what they are agitating for and when we got there, they asked us to make our request official and that same day, we wrote a letter and submitted it to them. About a week later, their chairman and other two executive members came to our secretariat to deliver their reply where it was stated that they agreed to meet with us to explain their side of the matter but with a clause that they will only do that at a Congress which I bluntly refused. I told the union chairman that I cannot summon a Congress and bring him to address it because we didn’t extend same courtesy to the management before they granted us audience and that doing so would amount to partiality. I also told him that the only reason I have not been giving the Congress details of my discussions with the management was simply because I have not heard their own side of the matter.
IMPACT: Can this distrust be due to the allegation by the unions that the students’ leaders have been bribed by the management and therefore, are compromised?
SUG President: They have said so many things including the allegations that we are management’s puppets and that they have bribed us. The truth is that we have been using dialogue to get many things from the management. We have succeeded in making this current management to reduce the school fees of the HND students, shuttle due and many other things in favour of the students and this has never happened before. How did we achieve all these if truly we are management’s puppets? The truth is that no leader can ever avoid bribery allegation in situation such as this but God knows that I have never received a dime from the management. The fact is that they (the unions) cannot point to anything that we (the students’union leaders) have done against them. They cannot prove how the management has influenced me against them.
IMPACT: Your appeal to the students?
SUG President: I have always appealed to them to be calm and I have also addressed them this morning. We will still continue to be diplomatic as this has been working for us and it was the reason we were able to do our examinations. We have also resolved to send letters to some people outside the institution. We believe that in due course, this issue will be resolved.
Rt. Hon. Balogun Babatunde, the Speaker of the Lagos State Polytechnic Students’ Representatives Council of the Students’ Union Government.
IMPACT: Can you please tell us your name and position sir?
Speaker: My name is Rt. Hon. Balogun Babatunde, the Speaker of the Lagos State Polytechnic Students’ Representatives Council of the Students’ Union Government.
IMPACT: For the second day running, the three main entrances leading into your institution have been locked as students and other people are unable to gain access into the school, what caused that?
Speaker: There has been a pending disagreement between the National Association of Staff Union (NASU) and the school management concerning de-migration which led to some deductions from the salaries of the staff members. Over time, we, as students’ union leaders, had tried to mediate between the two parties. The management has granted us audience on several occasions during which they told us their positions about the issue but NASU has been turning down our requests to hear their own side. The union members have been embarking on peaceful protest for over two months now with academic activities going on while the full time students were able to start and complete their examinations peacefully. But yesterday (Wednesday, March 27), the non-academic staff members locked the school gates, whereas, we had students inside the school while others were trying to gain entrance. Many students had to jump through the fence to gain access into the school compound and in the process, many of them got injured. We later contacted the DPO of the Shagamu Police Station who intervened in the matter before it could be resolved. Unfortunately, today (Thursday) again, the union did same thing. We did everything to meet with the NASU Chairman and his executive council but they still turned us down. This is the situation we have found ourselves.
IMPACT: We learnt that some students are still writing examinations while others are trying to process their National Youths Corp Service letters … (cut in)
Speaker: That’s true. For instance, I still have my practical exams ongoing and I am to defend my project seminar this coming Monday. We have students from the School of Agriculture whose projects are planting of crops or rearing of animals and they have to visit the school every day to look after their projects but closure of the school is affecting them. There are also students from the Arts & Design department who are still writing their examinations while the part time students are still in session. This crisis is really affecting us.
IMPACT: What do you think is the way out of this crisis between the management and the unions now that it is badly affecting the students?
Speaker: We have been trying to hear from the unions. Ours is just to hear from the two parties and find means of resolving it even if it is going to involve seeking external intervention but we cannot do that because we are yet to hear from the unions. We are appealing that the unions should give us
. Justice Teslim Abiodun Taofeek, the Chief Judge of the Students’ Union Government, Lagos State Polytechnic.
IMPACT: Please, tell us your name sir?
Chief Judge : Hon. Justice Teslim Abiodun Taofeek, the Chief Judge of the Students’ Union Government, Lagos State Polytechnic.
IMPACT: As the Chief Judge, in what way are you arbitrating over the crisis between the management of the institution and the unions, considering the fact that the situation is now affecting the students?
Chief Judge: As the head of the judiciary arm of the students’ union of the institution, my loyalty is first to the students. The Students’ union government is most concerned about the students and I have always ensured that their dealings are in conformity with the rules and regulations of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, laws of the Lagos State and rules of the school. What I have been doing so far was to ensure that the students’ union government is using constitutional means in mediating and resolving the matter between the management and the unions .Through our efforts, we have been able to speak with the management. We have equally tried to engage NASU leadership and members but to no avail. Rather, they have been calling us names. As Chief Judge, I have ensured that we don’t take laws into our hands and that we remain calm in the face of the crisis.
IMPACT: Your appeal to the warring parties and students?
Judge: My appeal to the management is that they should please ensure that whatever that they are doing is within the purview of the law. To NASU as an industrial body, irrespective of their right to peaceful protest, they must ensure that they are not doing it against the law. I know that there are rules of engagement in Labour laws, they should conform with the rules. We need both parties to act in accordance with the law. We expect NASU members to view the matter from the angle of parents, can they shut down an institution that is populated with their children? We will also want NASU to engage the SUG in resolving this crisis because we have been hearing all sought of allegations on the matter but we don’t want to depend on hearsay.
