THE STRIKE FURTHER DEMONSTRATES
THE UTTER FAILURE OF GOVERNMENT
PRESS STATEMENT
The Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union
(COEASU) has embarked on a 7-day warning strike to compel the federal and state
governments to meet its demands. The union is demanding, among other things,
the implementation of the agreement the federal government signed with it in
2010, the repositioning of infrastructure, teaching and learning conditions as
well as improvement in working conditions in all Federal and state-owned
Colleges of education across the country.
We in the
Education Rights Campaign (ERC) support the demands and strike action of
COEASU. This is just a 7-day warning strike. The ball is now in the court of
the federal and state governments to avert a full blown strike. This is why the
ERC calls on both the Federal and State governments to urgently meet the
demands of the striking College of Education lecturers.
The chain of
industrial actions in the education sector only confirms the pro-rich and
anti-poor disposition of government towards public education at all levels in
Nigeria. The nonchalant attitude of government towards the ultimatums and
demands of COEASU shows that a properly-funded, free and quality education is
not a priority of the present government at Federal and state levels. It is
only actions like this, by unions in the education sector who are endangered by
the underfunding of education, which can call the attention of government towards
the desires of Nigerians for free and quality education.
While COEASU is now declaring a warning strike, the
Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has been on a total strike for
nearly three months over non-implementation of a federal government agreement
with the union. Indeed, the crisis in the education sector is pervasive. This
explains why other unions in the sector like NASU, SSANU and ASUP are also
warming up to join the string of strike actions. Besides, SSANIP and ASUP had just in July suspended strike actions
that shut down polytechnics nationwide for three months while the NUT also
embarked on strike action in a number of states.
It is very clear that these unions are not just
being belligerent; instead they are being forced by the insincerity of
government towards signed agreements to resort to strikes to demand their
rights to better pay and working conditions.
We call on COEASU to adopt a programmatic method of
prosecuting this strike by immediately declaring days of mass protest, and join
forces with other unions in the education sector to save public education in
Nigeria. This is even very necessary now since all the demands of the various
unions in the education sector centre on the proper funding of education and
its democratic management. Hence, COEASU must take this step, link up with
other unions and set out joint program of actions.
Nigerian students must not be left out in this
struggle for the betterment of the education sector. Colleges of education
students must not maintain neutrality during this strike. Students must support
and join the struggle for adequate funding of public education and democratic
running of schools. In fact Nigerian students are mostly at the receiving end
of poor academic infrastructure and harsh learning conditions. We in the ERC
call on the Nigerian masses and working parents to support this ongoing strike,
and call on government to meet the demands of all striking education workers.
Hassan
Taiwo Soweto
National
Coordinator
07033697259 
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