Six days. That’s all that’s left before lectures could grind to a halt across Ogun State’s polytechnics. And at the heart of it? Unpaid allowances and a paltry N5m monthly lifeline that hasn’t changed in over 10 years.

So, Ogun State-owned polytechnics are on the edge again.

The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, ASUP, in Ogun State has warned Governor Dapo Abiodun that an industrial crisis is imminent. They’ve got just six days left on a 15-day ultimatum issued by their national body.

What do they want? Two things, mainly.

First, money owed to them. The union says the government has refused to implement the Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance and Earned Academic Allowance - that’s CATA and EAA - agreed under the 2026 Federal Government/ASUP deal.

According to ASUP, they’ve written twice - on 5th August and 21st September 2026 - and heard nothing concrete back.

Second, and this is the bigger picture, funding. Some of these polytechnics are still running on an N5m monthly subvention. N5m! For over a decade, despite inflation, fuel costs, and rising student numbers. ASUP is now demanding that be reviewed to N100m.

We’re not just talking about lecturers. We’re talking about six institutions: MAPOLY Abeokuta, Gateway ICT Saapade, Abraham Adesanya Polytechnic Ijebu-Igbo, D.S. Adegbenro ICT Itori, OGITECH Igbesa, and the Polytechnic of Health and Allied Sciences, Ilese-Ijebu.

If they go on strike, thousands of students - your brothers, sisters, children - will be stuck at home. Again.

And there’s more. ASUP also flagged unpaid pension counterpart funding and several months of unremitted deductions to PFAs. In plain English: lecturers who have served for years don’t know if their retirement is secure. Plus, the state palliative meant to cushion hardship hasn’t reached most polytechnic workers this year.

What is CATA/EAA?

Think of it as the tools-of-the-trade allowance. CATA covers the cost of teaching tools, research materials and gadgets lecturers need to do their job in a modern polytechnic. EAA is for extra academic work already done but never paid for. The Federal Government agreed to it in 202; Ogun is yet to domesticate it.

A Bit of History:

This isn’t new. Ogun poly funding has been a sore point since the Amosun administration. In 2019, MAPOLY itself nearly collapsed over funding and accreditation issues. Successive governments have promised to prioritise technical and vocational education as the engine for jobs and entrepreneurship, but subvention has stayed frozen since around 2013-2014.

The clock started on 27th October after ASUP’s 118th NEC meeting in Abuja. It expires on 11th November 2026.

ASUP, led in Ogun by Comrade Kolawole Adeyemi and joined by chairmen across the six schools, says it wants dialogue, not disruption. But they are clear: if the state fails to act, a total shutdown is inevitable.

Will Governor Abiodun blink? For students and parents, we hope so - and fast.

This report is based on a briefing by Ogun ASUP at MAPOLY, Abeokuta.

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