Students of Kogi State University, Thursday morning, shut down the state capital, Lokoja, leaving many travelers stranded, in protest of the prolonged closure of their school.
Kogi is a major transit point that links the northern and southern parts of Nigeria.
Lecturers in the school went on strike three months ago to protest against the non-payment of their salaries.
Government officials admit the lecturers are owed salaries, but say the debt piled up during the administration of the former governor, Idris Wada.
“Out of that five, we have paid four,” an official said.
The lecturers’ union is not impressed, however.
“The (strike) action will be sustained till the last kobo owed is paid,” Chairman of the school’s Academic Staff Union, Daniel Aina, said on Monday.
The lecturers also want the government to undertake to pay salaries of each month before the seventh day of a new month.
The government argues that such guarantees are risky because its revenue is predicated on a dwindling handout from the federal government.
The lecturers also want a seven- month tax rebate agreement it reached with the previous governor implemented.
Both the government and the lecturers are yet to reach a truce and the students complain they are made to pay heavily for the turf war.
Credit: Premiumtimes
