21-day ultimatum to meet our demands or be prepared for indefinite strike – COEASU

Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union has given the Federal Government a 21-day ultimatum to meet their demands or be ready for an indefinite strike.

Less than 3 weeks after ASUU announced a continuation of its warning strike, COEASU of the Colleges of Education threatened to strike.

This occurred as the Mobilisation Coordinator of the Education Rights Campaign, Michael Lenin, who’s also the vice president of the union blamed the Federal Government for the crisis rocking the education sector.

The lecturers of the union said the Federal government has neglected colleges of education.

The union outlined most issues with the government as the failure of the Federal Government to reconstitute its renegotiation team
for the COEASU-FGN 2010 agreement; non-release of the N15bn revitalization fund by the government and insistence on the Integrated Payroll and Personnel information system against the University Transparency and Accountability Solution which the union described as a more reliable alternative payment system.

The union urged stakeholders to persist on the government to do what is required now before the end of the ultimatum. They explained that the industrial action will begin if there was no intervention.

The statement recalled,

“Many colleges find it difficult to run smoothly due to non-release of running costs by the government. Many state governments have abdicated their responsibility as proprietors to TETFund. The only projects you see in the colleges are TETFund projects.

“The IPPIS is causing more havoc to tertiary institutions than good. Until the end of March 2022, 1,219 lecturers in COEs are experiencing one problem with IPPIS.

“COEASU has demanded the adoption of UTAS, an alternative innovation of the Academic Staff Union of Universities. UTAS has been found superior to IPPIS as it can address our payroll security concerns and the peculiarities of tertiary institutions. Therefore, it is ludicrous that FG has remained adamant about retaining IPPIS despite its injurious effects

“The IPPIS is causing more havoc to tertiary institutions than good. Until the end of March 2022, 1,219 lecturers in COEs are experiencing one problem with IPPIS.

“COEASU has demanded the adoption of UTAS, an alternative innovation of the Academic Staff Union of Universities. UTAS has been found superior to IPPIS as it can address our payroll security concerns and the peculiarities of tertiary institutions. Therefore, it is ludicrous that FG has remained adamant about retaining IPPIS despite its injurious effects.

“After extensive deliberations on the referendum outcome conducted across chapters of the union, NEC resolved to issue the government a 21-day ultimatum immediately. NEC further resolved that in the unexpected event that the government fails to do the needful within the ultimatum period, the union shall declare appropriate industrial action.”

“We in the Education Rights Campaign support the agitations of members of COESU, as well as other unions in the education sector. Lemon added

“The blame for these strike actions that have grounded tertiary education must be placed at the doorstep of the government. It is quite unprecedented that all the major unions in the tertiary education sector will be on strike; however, it shows the level of damage that the negligence of successive governments have done to the education sector through chronic under-funding.

“This is the time for Nigerian students to rise and demand that all of the demands of the striking workers must be met and the education sector must be repositioned from the current horrific state it is in.”

The Federal Ministry of Education has acknowledged receiving the letter of notification of strike from the union.