Umunze College of Education lecturers begin strike, ask students to vacate



Tony Okafor, Awka


Lecturers of Federal College of Education (Technical), Umunze, Anambra State, have commenced a three- week warning strike over unpaid allowances for six years.


Chairman of College of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) in
Federal College of Education, of the college, Dr Churchill Okonkwo, disclosed this at the weekend at a conference.

Okonkwo said the strike commenced on Tuesday after an extensive meeting of members of the union, who expressed displeasure over indebtedness to them by the management.

He said,“We are here to notify you that lecturers of Federal College of Education, Umunze have commenced a three-week warning strike.

“We believe we want to let the public know, especially parents of our students who may want to believe that their children are in school undergoing academic activities to know that no academic activity is going on in the college now.

“The management of the college has been trying to deny the strike, but the truth is that the students are simply staying idle in school, and we believe it is a bit harmful to leave students on campus to stay idle without any activity."

Speaking on why the lecturers went on strike, Okonkwo said there have been outstanding issues involving payment of allowances, which the management of the college has refused to meet.

“Mobilization of academic staff who go for supervision for teaching practice, that is the daily BTA for their mobilisation has not been paid since 2017.

“There is also the TETFUND intervention for teaching practice, which helps to augment whatever the college gives for teaching practice supervision, and in Umunze it has not been accessed since 2016.

“We have been patient for too long, yet this money doesn’t get paid every year. We have even sent a peace committee made up of former acting provosts to meet the provost of the college, Dr Tessy Okoli, but she has refused to budge.

“For seven years now we have not been paid that mobilization, yet the provost has remained adamant. That is why we decided to go on strike.”

Okonkwo lamented that some lecturers of the college were being coerced by the management to supervise the examinations, stressing that in some cases nonacademic staff members were being used for such services.

Meanwhile, Mr Sam Otti, the Public Relations Officer of the college in a reaction insisted that there was no strike in the school, while also advising students not to be deceived by what he called fake news about strike.

Season it is