Two weeks after the Academic Staff
Union of Universities suspended its
strike, lecturers in the colleges of
education on Tuesday commenced their
own strike. The lecturers, under the auspices of
Colleges of Education Academic Staff
Union, made this known in a letter to
the Supervising Minister of Education,
Nyesom Wike on Tuesday. The COEASU General Secretary, Mr.
Nuhu Ogirima, while delivering the
letter, lamented that the Federal
Government had failed to address
issues raised by the union. The union’s complaints bordered on
infrastructural decay, poor funding,
non-implementation of the 2010 FG-
COEASU agreement, poor conditions
of service, brain drain and illegal
imposition of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System . In the letter signed by the COEASU
National President, Asagha Nkoro
and Ogirima, the union accused the
government of directing the National
Commission for Colleges of Education
to impose the IPPIS on colleges. It said, “While government held a
series of talks with the leadership of
the union between September and
December 2013, it is evident that the
government does not wish to keep her
side of the bargain in meeting the understanding reached at such
meetings. “This, without equivocation, is
unacceptable to our union given the
peculiar high nuisance and volatile
nature of the colleges of education
sector. “More so, but for the constitution and
inauguration of the Needs Assessment
Committee, government merely paid lip
services to all other issues,
highlighted in our earlier
correspondences”. The union further complained about
discrimination against its members via
the refusal to fund the peculiar and
responsibility allowances as
obtainable in earned allowances of the
universities; refusal to implement the migration of lower cadres as
obtainable in polytechnics; and non-
accreditation of programmes of the
colleges of education among others. COEASU said its members had been
directed to resume the strike suspended
earlier this year, “unless and until
government meets the demands”. Ogirima, who later spoke to our
correspondent, said the union embarked
on the action due to the attitude of the
government. He said, “You would recall that we
observed a week warning strike earlier
this year and the Federal Government
called us for talks. Sadly, but for the
NEEDS Assessment Committee which
government inaugurated, all other issues remain unattended in spite of the
over six months of dialogue.

Nawa oo