By Yabagi Mohammed.
Though other universities in the country may have resumed from the just concluded warning strike declared by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), the industrial action may linger on in Kogi State University, Anyigba.
This is because the institution has its own pending issues yet to be settled between the local chapter of ASUU and the government of Kogi State, including the non constitution of the university management council, inability to honour agreements reached that led to the suspension of the recent strike action, among others.
The Chairman of the union, Dr. Daniel Aina, who made the declaration at a Press Conference held at the Union’s headquarters in Anyigba, said members of the body have become disillusioned with the situation at hand, saying that the members of the union are the worst hit by the current economic downturn in the country.
He expressed concerns that Kogi State government has continued to reneged on its promises to it for the umpteenth time, adding that leadership of the union has said the latest industrial action would be total without any consideration since government has not honoured its own part of agreements entered in the past.
Dr. Aina declared that that it will extend the one-week warning strike by its national body, if the state government fail to address its outstanding demands, including offsetting of salary backlog to some of its members.
He explained that the union had earlier issued the warning that it would embark on an indefinite strike beginning from November 7th, 2016, if the Kogi State Government failed to address issues militating against conducive learning in the state-owned institution.
His words: “We expect the Kogi State Government to defray all outstanding salaries of all our members within this period of warning strike to forestall further disruption of academic activities in Kogi State University.
“The union will not continue to find its arms twisted while our members suffer untold hardships in being able to feed, transportation and fulfillment of their statutory obligations. We cry out once more; where is the government that says it should be trusted? Where is the benefit of doubt?
“We call on all well-meaning Kogites, influential and our royal father’s to please interface, so that university activities may continue unhindered. The continual delay in putting the University Council in place is worrisome and hampers proper functioning of the system. We therefore, call on the Visitor to set up the Council without delay”.
Reacting to the issue, a senior official with the Kogi State Government informed our correspondent that the issue of education is one of the top priorities of the present administration of Alhaji Yahaya Bello.
The source said the administration has always been sincere with leadership of ASUU in Kogi State University, saying that no sane government would jeopardize the future of its youths by toying with their education. It added that government is working on modalities to ensure that the lingering issue is put to bed once and for all.
On his part, leadership of the Students Union Government (SUG) has appealed to both government and ASUU to consider the plight of the students who are the ultimate sufferers in any strike situation, saying that students of the institution have become fed up with the lingering crisis.
The President, Comrade Philip Omepa, who was reacting to the issue, called on the stakeholders to put the students in the shoes of their children and see whether they were being fair to them, in view of the incessant industrial actions that Kogi State University has been suffering in recent times.
“I think we have suffered a lot as students in this university. We have been through a lot of strike actions arising from the inability of those who are supposed to prepare us for future challenges – our lecturers and government. We hope they can just come to to sort of agreement so as to end the lingering issue of strike.”
