Why lecturers take gov’t assurances unserious -Unionists

Government has successfully negotiated some agreements with the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU), leading to the suspension of the about 2-month-old strike action by the union. The union and government’s representatives were said to have remained miles apart in negotiations following the inability of the authority to meet the demands of the union […]

Government has successfully negotiated some agreements with the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU), leading to the suspension of the about 2-month-old strike action by the union.

The union and government’s representatives were said to have remained miles apart in negotiations following the inability of the authority to meet the demands of the union which included provision of funds to arrest infrastructural decay in the colleges, granting of autonomous degree awarding status and stoppage of outsourcing of critical services in the colleges, such as security among others.

The National President of COEASU, Nuhu Ogirima, said his colleagues agreed to return to classes in the interim after reaching settlement with government which agreed to implement the agreements reached, including Needs Assessment Report, finding sustainable solution to decaying school infrastructure and allowing some colleges to award degrees.

Nevertheless, some of the members have promised to resume strike if there was lack of progress in the implementation of the agreements.

COEASU chairman in the Federal College of Education, Kano, Dauda Saidu, said the strike was suspended to give a grace period of seven weeks to see the level of government’s commitment on its reassurances to meet some of the demands put forward by the union.

Saidu said the union embarked on the strike in 2017 but suspended it based on the string of promises by the Federal Government, adding that up to October 2018, government did not show seriousness with regard to honouring the promises.

“We embarked on this recent strike alongside NLC when they called for a nationwide strike in respect of the new national minimum wage which the government failed to implement.

“On the eve of the strike, our national officers called for a press conference to inform Nigerians that we have a peculiar problem with government and even if an agreement is reached between NLC and the government, we were not going back to classes until and unless government does what is needful by attending to our grievances,” he said

The chairman highlighted some of the grievances to include the failure of government to implement the 2014 Needs Assessment Report carried out on tertiary institutions which was reviewed in 2017.

“There is also the issue of what we call ‘dual mode’ in which the government would grant Colleges of Education autonomy to award degrees independent of universities. There is a serious pressure on the universities, as you know. You find that universities hardly admit 25 per cent of the prospective applicants. So, if government approves this request of dual mode it will ease the problem of admission on universities,” he said.

Other issues raised by the union, according to the chairman, are ‘Peculiar Academic Allowance,’ that distinguished the academic and non-teaching staff of the colleges, issues of irregular payment of salaries in some of the colleges and outsourced services, which is used to cater for the employment of security personnel, labourers and messengers, a burden pushed to the colleges during the Obasanjo administration.

Saidu, however, said government had shown some level of commitment with regard to issues of payment of salaries, which he noted mostly affected state-owned colleges of education, and that an executive bill was sent to the National Assembly by the president in respect of the dual mode request.

COEASU chairman in Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education, Owerri, Dr Benjamin Nwokedi, said the strike might resume by the end of January next year if the Federal Government reneged on the conditions for the suspension of the strike.

He said, “We decided to suspend the strike following what we considered as genuine efforts by the government to meet our demands and the fact that the children of the poor who are our students are suffering because of the strike.

“But we have to warn that if by the end of January next year, the Federal Government fails to fulfill the terms of agreement, we will not hesitate to resume the strike action. You know the type of government we have, it is not the one known to keeping agreements. We believe them with a pinch of salt.”

Also speaking on the issue, COEASU zonal coordinator in the Southeast, Nwamaradi Tobechukwu,  said the decision to suspend the strike was based on the reassurances by the Federal Government  to implement the 2014 NEEDS Assessment Report through a sustainable funding model and the President’s approval of N15 billion as a palliative measure.

Tobechukwu, who is of the Federal College of Education (Technical), Umueze,  Anambra State,  said the union also got assurances for the implementation of the agreement on the  2014 Technical Committee on autonomy for the colleges to award degrees in teacher education, also known as dual mode.

He said the union also got assurances on defraying outstanding arrears of Peculiar Academic Allowances (PAA) and the government’s acceptance to mainstream PAA in the 2019 budget.

Tobechukwu added that the union would meet at the end of January to review the extent to which government fulfilled its commitments and appropriate actions taken based on the weighting of the evaluation.

COEASU deputy chairman in Aminu Saleh College of Education, Azare, Aminu Udubo, said “we were directed to suspend the strike by our mother union just as we were directed to embark on it. But mind you, it was a suspension pending the commitment shown by the government on the agreement reached during negotiations.

If the government failed to implement the agreement terms, we will then embark on an indefinite strike. That is the deal now,” he said.

Shedding more light on the matter, national vice president of the union and a lecturer with Federal College of Education, Zaria, Mu’awiyya Haruna Usman, said the strike action was suspended based on assurances given by the government regarding some of the demands forwarded by the lecturers.

In Abia State even before the proclamation lecturers of College of Education Technical,  Arochukwu have examination process after claiming that they haven’t  received salary for 10 months.

In his reaction, Commissioner for Information Chief John Okiyi Kalu sum of N28 million was spent on the college which has only 376 staff as monthly subvention.He said the institution with students population of about 500 was also demanding N50 million per month instead.

The commissioner said the management of the institution should generate ideas on how to increase Internally Generated Revenue to stay afloat instead of expecting to be spoon -fed by government.