From Isaac Job, Uyo
Lecturers and students of Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic, Ikot Osurua, were stranded on Thursday morning as non-academic staff barricaded all the gates leading to the institution, preventing lecturers and students access to the campus.
The Daily Sun gathered that students and lecturers clustered at the gate while security men refused them entry for academic activities.
A placard was posted at the gate with the inscription, “Please come and salvage the situation by directing the implementation of 65 years retirement age”.
Students turned the security hall at the Polytechnic main gate into a classroom waiting for lecturers before a senior Security Officer ordered them to enter the school so that the situation would not degenerate.
President of the Students Union Government (SUG) comrade George Inyene Geoffrey, said he could not comment on the incident and could not also address the stranded students at the gate
Reacting to the incident, one of the lecturers who pleaded anonymity said the non-academic staff strike in Akwa Ibom Polytechnic was a case of jealousy against the academic staff who were granted 65 years as retirement age.
He argued that the non-academic staff is just an arm of the workforce in the institution, adding that they have gone too far to lock the school gate, barring staff and students from having access.
“In the university system, professors are given 70 years as retirement age. Other academic staff are given 65 years. The other five years are for research and book writing to allow them to give back to the academic community and their experiences over the years before they retire.
“If the non-academic staff want 65 years, they change their status to academic staff and enjoy such privilege. They also wrote books to contribute to knowledge in the academic community,” he said
Meanwhile, the strike action continued as the state government could not respond to their demand.
