LATEST NEWS ON KOGI STATE TERTIARY INSTITUTION STRIKE.
Kogi Tertiary Institutions; This is One Strike Too Many
Tertiary education in Kogi State has literally been halted. Students have been sent home, following an indefinite strike by the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of seven state-owned institutions.
The schools are Kogi State University (KSU),
Anyigba , Kogi State Polytechnic (KOGI POLY), Lokoja, Kogi State College of Education (KSCOED), Ankpa, Kogi State College of Education (Technical), Kabba, College of Nursing and Midwifery, Obangede, College of Health Sciences and Technology, Idah and KSU Teaching Hospital, Anyigba.
The workers are complaining about the non-remitance of their earned allowances since 2009 and salary arrears. They are also contesting the retirement age with the government.
The KSU chapters of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) and the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) directed their members to comply with JAC’s directive on the indefinite strike, which began on January 31.
In a joint statement signed by the secretaries of NAAT, NASU and SSANU, Comrade Moses Shaibu, Comrade Emmanuel Yusuf and Comrade Eunice Igono, the KSU workers’ unions alleged that the government violated the retirement age laws. They said they would seek redress at the National Industrial Court.
To fish out ghost workers and those who falsified their ages, the government set up a screening committee to vet the workers’ employment histories and their credentials. The screening is to identify those who may have worked for more than the statutory 35 years.
The unions insisted on having their representatives on the panel to prevent what they called victimisation.
It was gathered that the government set up the committee without consulting the unions. The workers accused the government of having a “pre-determined agenda”.
The workers became enraged when their colleagues from KSCOED going to Lokoja, the state capital, for the third round of screening were attacked. Documents containing the information of college workers were said to have been snatched by armed bandits.
The SSANU, NASU and NAAT statement urged workers not cleared by the screening committee to go for re-screening as scheduled by the appeal committee. JAC lauded workers for their efforts to resolve issues arising from the screening.
Reacting, Governor Yahaya Bello’s Director-General of Media and Publicity, Kingsley Fanwo said the government was not unaware of the situation, noting that it is working to ensure “logical conclusion” of the screening.
Fanwo said the governor was committed to providing an enabling environment for “genuine” workersto get their salaries as when due.
He appealed for patience, saying: “Government is prepared to pay the backlog of salaries owed workers whose statuses have not been clearly determined by the screening committee. This is the reason government set up the appeal committee to clear the last batch of workers.”
Students are not happy with the closure of their schools. Some of them, who spoke to Campuslife, appealed to stakeholders to expedite action on calling off the strike in their interest.
KSU students, whose campus was reopened after an internal strike, described the latest action as “one too many”. They warned that the action could cripple education, if issues surrounding it were not addressed.
Eleojo James, a 300-Level Accountancy student of KSU, said the incessant strikes were becoming unbearable because her plans after school were being shattered.
According to her, the strike has brought hardship to students and their parents. She wondered why the government could not stop the strike.
For Joshua Arome and Rejoice Olowonisaye of KSCOED, the strike would have been averted if the government had kept its promises to workers. They said the workers’ demands were lawful, but called on the striking workers to consider the plights of students. They appealed to the government not to intimidate the workers in resolving the matter.
Joshua said: “From what we understood, government’s screenings are for sinister reasons rather than for public interest.”
A final year student of KOGI POLY, Abubakar Mohammed, said there were ways the government and workers could resolve their differences without resorting to strike.
Afolabi Joshua, popularly known as VOJA, who just graduated from KSU, is concerned that the development may delay his going for the National Youth Service at when due.
He said: “It is sad that the students who just concluded their examinations may now have to wait endlessly to be mobilised for National Youth Service. Even, students who just returned from their industrial training cannot resume for defence. We have been held to ransom by our lecturers and the government.
“Higher institutions in the state have suffered needless strikes in the last couple of months. There have been interruptions in academic activities, non-assessment of student results and delay in mobilisation of graduates for national service. Even, students who are supposed to go to Nigerian Law School are delayed.”
In a related development, the KSU chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has also joined the action. ASUU said it was embarking on an “indefinite, total and comprehensive strike”, beginning from February 3.
On assuming office last year, Bello ordered a screening to verify the number of workers. The screening, the government said, would continue until ghost workers are flushed out.
The workforce was put at 88,000 at the beginning of the exercise in February last year. At the end of the first phase of the screening, the figure came down to 63,000.
The panel put the workforce at 18,211 in its report. But, there are complaints the report is not foolproof.
LET US ALL KEEP PRAYING THAT THE STRIKE WILL BE CALLED OFF SOON.
Kogi Tertiary Institutions; This is One Strike Too Many
Tertiary education in Kogi State has literally been halted. Students have been sent home, following an indefinite strike by the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of seven state-owned institutions.
The schools are Kogi State University (KSU),
Anyigba , Kogi State Polytechnic (KOGI POLY), Lokoja, Kogi State College of Education (KSCOED), Ankpa, Kogi State College of Education (Technical), Kabba, College of Nursing and Midwifery, Obangede, College of Health Sciences and Technology, Idah and KSU Teaching Hospital, Anyigba.
The workers are complaining about the non-remitance of their earned allowances since 2009 and salary arrears. They are also contesting the retirement age with the government.
The KSU chapters of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) and the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) directed their members to comply with JAC’s directive on the indefinite strike, which began on January 31.
In a joint statement signed by the secretaries of NAAT, NASU and SSANU, Comrade Moses Shaibu, Comrade Emmanuel Yusuf and Comrade Eunice Igono, the KSU workers’ unions alleged that the government violated the retirement age laws. They said they would seek redress at the National Industrial Court.
To fish out ghost workers and those who falsified their ages, the government set up a screening committee to vet the workers’ employment histories and their credentials. The screening is to identify those who may have worked for more than the statutory 35 years.
The unions insisted on having their representatives on the panel to prevent what they called victimisation.
It was gathered that the government set up the committee without consulting the unions. The workers accused the government of having a “pre-determined agenda”.
The workers became enraged when their colleagues from KSCOED going to Lokoja, the state capital, for the third round of screening were attacked. Documents containing the information of college workers were said to have been snatched by armed bandits.
The SSANU, NASU and NAAT statement urged workers not cleared by the screening committee to go for re-screening as scheduled by the appeal committee. JAC lauded workers for their efforts to resolve issues arising from the screening.
Reacting, Governor Yahaya Bello’s Director-General of Media and Publicity, Kingsley Fanwo said the government was not unaware of the situation, noting that it is working to ensure “logical conclusion” of the screening.
Fanwo said the governor was committed to providing an enabling environment for “genuine” workersto get their salaries as when due.
He appealed for patience, saying: “Government is prepared to pay the backlog of salaries owed workers whose statuses have not been clearly determined by the screening committee. This is the reason government set up the appeal committee to clear the last batch of workers.”
Students are not happy with the closure of their schools. Some of them, who spoke to Campuslife, appealed to stakeholders to expedite action on calling off the strike in their interest.
KSU students, whose campus was reopened after an internal strike, described the latest action as “one too many”. They warned that the action could cripple education, if issues surrounding it were not addressed.
Eleojo James, a 300-Level Accountancy student of KSU, said the incessant strikes were becoming unbearable because her plans after school were being shattered.
According to her, the strike has brought hardship to students and their parents. She wondered why the government could not stop the strike.
For Joshua Arome and Rejoice Olowonisaye of KSCOED, the strike would have been averted if the government had kept its promises to workers. They said the workers’ demands were lawful, but called on the striking workers to consider the plights of students. They appealed to the government not to intimidate the workers in resolving the matter.
Joshua said: “From what we understood, government’s screenings are for sinister reasons rather than for public interest.”
A final year student of KOGI POLY, Abubakar Mohammed, said there were ways the government and workers could resolve their differences without resorting to strike.
Afolabi Joshua, popularly known as VOJA, who just graduated from KSU, is concerned that the development may delay his going for the National Youth Service at when due.
He said: “It is sad that the students who just concluded their examinations may now have to wait endlessly to be mobilised for National Youth Service. Even, students who just returned from their industrial training cannot resume for defence. We have been held to ransom by our lecturers and the government.
“Higher institutions in the state have suffered needless strikes in the last couple of months. There have been interruptions in academic activities, non-assessment of student results and delay in mobilisation of graduates for national service. Even, students who are supposed to go to Nigerian Law School are delayed.”
In a related development, the KSU chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has also joined the action. ASUU said it was embarking on an “indefinite, total and comprehensive strike”, beginning from February 3.
On assuming office last year, Bello ordered a screening to verify the number of workers. The screening, the government said, would continue until ghost workers are flushed out.
The workforce was put at 88,000 at the beginning of the exercise in February last year. At the end of the first phase of the screening, the figure came down to 63,000.
The panel put the workforce at 18,211 in its report. But, there are complaints the report is not foolproof.
LET US ALL KEEP PRAYING THAT THE STRIKE WILL BE CALLED OFF SOON.
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