The Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union – COEASU, has given Federal Government two weeks ultimatum to fulfill its promise or face industrial action.
Vice President and Northwest Coordinator of the Union, Comrade Shehu Jabaka Muhammad made the call while briefing newsmen at Federal College of Education Technical Gusau , Zamfara State.
Dr Jabaka Muhammad maitained that there was need for Federal Government to call on all stakeholders to a round table discussion to address the issue in order to avoid the industrial action.
He urged Federal Government to do the needful to end the current spate of strike actions as a result of non-implementation of the various agreements reached with staff of the unions in tertiary institutions.
According to him, Federal Government had failed to address some burning issues that have been lingering for several years
which resulted in the suffering of children of poor people.
Some of the issues which the Federal Government refused to address according to him included, the recalcitrant insistence on integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System, IPPIS against a reliable alternative of University Transparency and Accountability Solution, UTAS.
“Government has refused to heed to the Unions demand for the adoption of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS), an alternative innovation of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU)”.
He maintained that, Federal Government refused to constitute her own renegotiation team after acknowledging receipt of the Unions team list, on her own request, for over two months now.
He also cited poor funding of Colleges of Education and poor vonditions across the state-owned Colleges of Education as another major setback which the union wanted to be addressed.
He expressed disgust that, the union members, especially in State Colleges of Education, continue to suffer untold hardships through nonpayment of salary and salary arrears.
Dr Jabaka added that , if Federal Government does not meet their demands within the next three weeks, they would be forced to embark on industrial action.
SANI HARUNA DUTSINMA
