COEASU vows to continue strike

The Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) has vowed to continue with its ongoing nationwide strike until the Federal Government meet its demands. The strike has entered the seventh week yesterday.

The union took the decision according to its leadership because the Federal Government has not taken any concrete step to answer its prayers.

Arising from its recent National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held at the Federal College of Education (Special) Oyo, the union said all its discussions with the Federal Government since the commencement of the indefinite strike on December 18 had failed to yield positive results. Outside the national officers of the union, 53 chapters' chairmen and secretaries of the union nationwide also attended the meeting.

Accusing the Federal Government of insincerity over the whole issue, the union urged it to desist from playing politics with education, which it describes as bedrock for development.

It will be recalled that since September 13, 2013 when the union declared oneweek warning strike, COEASU had been making certain demands from the Federal Government, failure of which led to the ongoing strike.

These demands include the migration of lower cadre officers from Lecturer I to Assistant Lecturer; the release of the White Paper on the 2012 Visitation Panel conducted on the federal colleges of education, the attempted imposition of strange policy on payroll system, the need for the conduct of the Needs Assessment in all colleges of education and the harmonisation of the conditions of service of lecturers to stem brain drain, among others.