ASUP Rejects Tinubu's New Polytechnic Governing Councils, Demands Review

The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics has strongly criticised the new governing councils appointed for federal polytechnics in Nigeria. The union, known as ASUP, said the chosen members do not have the practical knowledge needed to understand and lead the polytechnic system.

ASUP said this is not a small concern. Governing councils help make major decisions for polytechnics; if the members do not understand the sector, their decisions may create more problems instead of bringing solutions.

The union stated its position in a document signed by ASUP President Shammah Kpanja. According to him, ASUP studied the new appointment list and was deeply unhappy with its contents.

Kpanja said the list failed to provide the kind of leadership the polytechnic sector needs. The union had expected the government to appoint people who had worked inside the system and understood its daily realities.

ASUP said former rectors should have been considered. A former rector has already led a polytechnic and understands its structure, duties, staff, students and management problems.

The union also wanted other former principal officers on the councils. These are people who have held senior positions and taken part in running polytechnic institutions.

Former chief executives and staff members of the regulatory body were also part of the categories proposed by ASUP. Such people understand the rules, official processes and standards that guide the sector.

Current or retired chief lecturers should also have been included, the union said. They have direct experience in teaching, academic leadership and the daily problems faced by lecturers and students.

Kpanja argued that Nigeria has many qualified people in these categories. The union does not accept that suitable experts were unavailable; it believes the government simply left them out.

“The current composition falls significantly short of the above as no such person(s) in the categories listed was appointed. This is a great disservice to the Polytechnics,” Kpanja said.

For ASUP, the pain comes from seeing people with direct experience ignored while important council seats are given to people who may not understand polytechnic operations.

A governing council is not meant to exist only in name. It is expected to provide direction, support good management and protect the interests of the institution. Members must understand the system before they can govern it wisely.

The union also pointed to the way councils were formed for universities and colleges of education. It said the difference between those appointments and the polytechnic appointments was troubling.

According to ASUP, former executive secretaries of regulatory bodies were reportedly appointed to councils serving universities and colleges of education.

Those sub-sectors also received former principal officers. Retired and serving staff with useful experience were reportedly included as well.

But ASUP said the federal polytechnic list did not include people from these same groups. The experience accepted as important for universities and colleges of education was missing when it came to polytechnics.

The union believes this difference sends a painful message. It suggests that practical knowledge is respected in other parts of tertiary education but treated as unimportant in the polytechnic system.

Kpanja described the situation as part of a long history of poor treatment. ASUP believes Nigerian polytechnics have suffered discrimination for many years, and it sees the new council list as another example.

“Our Union views this unwholesome trend as an extension of the age-long discrimination against Polytechnics in the country and an attempt to push the sector into crisis,” he said.

The union warned that the appointments may deepen existing problems. It believes the new councils could create a governance crisis if they begin work without people who properly understand the institutions.

ASUP also warned that the list could hand control of polytechnic governance to businessmen instead of leaders with the right sector experience.

The union is not saying that every businessman lacks value. Its argument is that business success is different from knowledge of polytechnic education. A person may understand money and companies but still know little about technical education, academic work and polytechnic administration.

For ASUP, sector competence must come first. Council members should understand the purpose of polytechnics and the special role they play in education and national development.

The union has therefore demanded a review of the appointment list. It wants the government to make the changes before the new councils are formally inaugurated.

ASUP wants qualified people with real knowledge of polytechnic operations added to the councils. The union believes their experience would help the institutions avoid poor decisions and weak leadership.

The timing of the demand is important. Once the councils are inaugurated, members will begin performing their duties. ASUP wants the problem corrected before that stage, not after a governance crisis has already started.

The appointments came almost one year after the government of President Bola Tinubu dissolved the governing councils of federal universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.

The new appointment list was released on Saturday. It was signed by Didi Walson-Jack, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education.

ASUP is now asking the government to look at the list again and treat polytechnics with the same seriousness shown to universities and colleges of education.

The union believes the solution is already available. Nigeria has former rectors, former principal officers, former chief executives, experienced regulatory staff, and current or retired chief lecturers who can serve.

Ignoring all these people, ASUP said, is a great disservice to polytechnics. The sector needs leaders who understand its wounds, its purpose and its daily work.

The union’s demand is simple but firm. Review the list before inauguration, appoint people with genuine sector knowledge and stop the polytechnic system from being pushed toward another crisis.

For ASUP, the matter is bigger than council positions. It concerns the future of federal polytechnics and the quality of leadership they will receive; that future should not be placed in hands that do not understand it.