MAPOLY lecturers accuse Amosun of threatening them, begin indefinite strike

Lecturers of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic (MAPOLY), Abeokuta, Ogun State have accused Governor Ibikunle Amosun of using state machinery to harass and threaten their lives.
Because of this, they have declared an indefinite strike.
The lecturers insisted that Amosun was after them because of their position on the upgrading of MAPOLY into a university of Science and Technology as well as controversial creation of a new state polytechnic in Ipokia.
The chairman, Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), MAPOLY chapter, Comrade Kola Abiola, confirmed the strike on Saturday, declaring that the decision to down academic tools was taken at the union’s emergency meeting in Abeokuta on Friday.
Abiola, who claimed that some unknown people have trailed him “on two occasions to the junction of my residence,” said the lives of leaders and members of the union are no longer secure in the school.
He noted that the state government had not met the lecturers’ demands, even as he accused the former Executive Secretary of National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof Peter Okebukola, of plotting to destroy the polytechnic with his activities as chairman of the transition committee.
He said, “Never before has lives been threatened since July 3 that we began this struggle and we want to believe that we have not gone confrontational. We have asked for audience with the government and we have used every medium available to us, even meeting traditional leaders and people that matter in Ogun State, to make the government of the state to talk to us. 
“But as we speak to you, the government has unleashed state machinery. They want to harass me and kill us. And so because we feel our lives are no longer guaranteed on campus, all academic staff of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic have said that they are no longer willing to provide their services as long as their lives are being threatened.
“The security arrangement is thus that vehicle with unregistered plate number does not come into school. We have found out that vehicles with unregistered plate number have come to school; have not only pursued and harassed me, they have also trailed me on two occasions to the junction of my residence and this we have reported to appropriate quarters.
“The congress feels if the lives of the Exco of the union is so harassed, what will happen to ordinary members? And so they would not feel safe conducting exam or conducting their activities in an environment that is not secured.
“We are feeling that they want to stifle us, they want to kill us, they want to collect our jobs from us systematically and we are saying no.”
The chairman said the state government had not fulfilled its promises about the new polytechnic in Ipokia, adding that the institution had not met requirements of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE).
While raising alarm over the future of MAPOLY, Abiola disclosed that only 132 out of 7,500 students offered HND admission into the institution for 2017/2018 academic session have responded so far.
He said: “One of the things that we have highlighted to the government before this thing started is that how are you going to sustain the system? In the month of September, it’s only 40 per cent of our salaries that was paid. In the month of October, it has been a truncated salary again that was paid. 
“And the government has told us to go and look inward; do you want us to start selling marks? Do you want us to start telling our students to bring money?”