Colleges of education lecture plans nationwide demonstration

Lecturers under the auspices of the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union(COEASU) on Thursday said that they were prepared to stage the mass demonstration proposed by the union.

Mr Olayanju Abolaji, the Chairman, COEASU, Federal College of Education (Technical), Akoka Chapter, said in Lagos that it has mobilised its members ahead of the demonstration.

COEASU had on Dec. 31, 2013, declared an indefinite nationwide strike to press home its demands, including poor state of infrastructure in the colleges, poor funding and non-implementation of the 2010 Federal Government-COEASU agreement.

The union also rejected the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) already operational in the federal civil service.

The national body of the union had on Feb 2, said it would embark on a national mass demonstration soon to sensitise the public of the insentivity of the government to its demands.

Abolaji said that lecturers at the institution were fully in support of the mass demonstration proposed by its national body.

“We have already mobilised members of our chapter for the demonstration, we are only waiting for directives from the national body to choose a date.

“We will swing into action, as soon as the green light is on”, he said.

According to Abolaji, the chapter plan to appear in black outfit for the demonstration and would also propose it to the national body.

“We intend coming out on black for the demonstration because we are mourning the collapsed state of the education sector.

“We will also propose it to the national body, to inform other chapters to do same, so that we can be uniform on that day,” he said.

The chairman said that the strike would continue comprehensively until the demands of the union were met.