Lecturers threaten to mobilise women, artisans against govt

The Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union on Thursday threatened to mobilise market women, artisans and masses of Nigeria against the federal and state governments over their failure to implement the negotiated agreement between them and the union.

Addressing journalists in Abuja, President of COEASU, Asagha Nkoro, said the Federal Government had continued to exhibit “marked indifference” to the plight of lecturers by failing to implement the negotiated agreement.

The union listed the refusal to commence renegotiation process as contained in the 2010 Agreement, non-conduct of needs assessment, proliferation of satellite campuses, exploitative tax regime and the refusal to release the white paper of the visitation panel as contending issues that government must resolve.

Lamenting the failure of the Federal Government not to have responded to issues raised by the union since the union embarked on the strike on April 29, Nkoro, in company with the union’s General Secretary, Nuhu Ogirima, also accused some state governments of abandoning their fundamental responsibilities in state-owned colleges of education.

According to him, the refusal of governments to pay attention to the union is an indication of lack of respect for the masses, who struggle for their children to attend colleges of education because they could not afford university education.

Nkoro said, “It is quite incontrovertible that the refusal of the respective governments and various authorities to expeditiously address the issues could induce the union to invoke measures that would impede and paralyse the smooth running of the entire colleges of education system.”



-- Punch