A former National President of the National Association of Polytechnic Students, Mustapher Tijani, has urged the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics to return to class.
Tijani appealed to them to have a rethink on their ongoing strike in the interest of the students.
He made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Saturday in Minna.
The ASUP strike, which started in December, has kept many polytechnic students out of classes.
Some others, whose institutions did not join the nationwide strike, however, remain unaffected.
Talks between the federal government and the striking lecturers have yet to yield the desired results.
Tijani lamented that any time ASUP embarked on strike, huge consequence was borne by the students and not the striking lecturers.
He said: “You see, 80 per cent of polytechnic students live off campus and their respective landlords do not care about the strike, so long as they pay rent.
“This a huge loss to the students because many of them are indigent.”
Tijani claimed that ASUP was not sincere in its position on the cause of the strike.
He said that as soon as the Federal Government met their demand on Consolidated Tertiary Institutions Salary Structure they would sheath their sword.
He said: “It has now become a norm for ASUP to declare a strike in pretence that there is infrastructural decay, obsolete laboratory equipment, inadequate structures just to get their interest on CONTISS immersed.
“I tell you that their only interest is on their salary increment and allowances.
“Their interest is on their salary increment and if there is a little adjustment you see them suspending the strike.”
Tijani said that if ASUP wanted the students to give them solidarity, they should declare strike exclusively for the purpose of infrastructural and inadequate structures on Polytechnic campuses.
He said: “If only they will do this, they will have the solidarity of the students totally.”
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Tijani is a former student of the Kaduna Polytechnic.
He was President of National Association of Polytechnic students in the 2009/ 2010 session.
