Colleges of Education suspend strike, give govt 60 days to act

The Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) has suspended its two months old strike to give the Federal Government the opportunity to implement some of the contentious issues.

This was contained in a communique issued by the COEASU National Executive Council and co-signed by the National President, Dr Smart Olugbeko, and Secretary General, Dr. Ahmed Lawan Bazza, on Thursday.

According to the communique, the decision followed the progress made in their demands which the union will reconvene and assess implementation in the next two months.

“While appreciating critical stakeholders for their intervention and dogged commitment to the resolution of the issues, as evident in the enormous progress made at the ongoing renegotiation and the appreciable level of progress made towards the amendment of the Colleges of Education Establishment Act, which is paramount for the development of the COE system, NEC resolved that the nationwide strike action started on 10th June 2022 be suspended for a Cool-off-period of 60 days to give the government the opportunity to perfect the progress made so far into tangible achievements that are acceptable to the Union after which the NEC shall reconvene to re-assess the status of the issues and decide the way forward,” the union stated

While appreciating the members for their support and cooperation, the union said the decision was a result of the satisfactory performance of the negotiation.

COEASU added: “NEC noted with cautious satisfaction that significant improvement has been achieved on the issues which informed the roll-over of the national strike action.

READ ALSO: Colleges of Education lecturers extend strike by 3 weeks

“The Federal Government has yielded to the Union’s demand for the constitution of a committee of critical stakeholders including but not limited to representatives of the Union, to, among others, draw modalities for the disbursement of the revitalization fund of fifteen billion naira (N15bn) only to COEs without further delay.

“Renegotiation of COEASU-FGN 2010 Agreement on which the government has been dilly-dallying over time eventually commenced and the Union is satisfied by the progress made so far.”

The union, however, commended some state governments for positive response while hinting that talks were still in progress with others on contentious issues.

“The commendable actions of some state governments namely Imo, Kwara, Osun, and Oyo states towards the resolution of lingering issues in their respective colleges of education while meaningful talks are ongoing on others with outstanding issues, notwithstanding the need for pressure on a few recalcitrant ones,” it noted.

COEASU further decried the high level of insecurity in the country with the increase in the spate of kidnapping, banditry, killings, and other social vices, calling on the government “to address the situation more proactively by beefing up security on all campuses, as the system is being reopened for teaching and learning, and across the nation in general.”

The Star