The Minister of Labour and Productivity, Emeka Wogu has assured the students of Colleges of Education across the country that the strike action embarked upon by their lecturers will soon be over as President Goodluck Jonathan has directed that the protracted strike action be brought to an end.
Emeka Wogu stated this on Tuesday March 19, 2014 while addressing the National Association of Nigerian Students’ Joint Campus Committee led by its Chairman, Adediwura Adesina in a peaceful protest at the Federal Secretariat, Abuja. He assured them that the Nigerian President has mandated that the industrial strike by their teachers be brought to an end.
“The grievances and demands of your teachers have received federal government attention, I want to re-assure you that President Goodluck Jonathan is determined to make sure that education is overhauled from the phase he come upon it. It is very painful that the education system in this country over three decades now has been in a state of decadence. It has taken the intervention of Mr. President to restore normalcy in the sector and part of his Transformation Agenda is to make education the topmost priority of governance,” he assured.
The Minister appealed to the striking lecturers in the Colleges of Education to go back to their classes, saying the Federal Government has shown commitment towards meeting their demands. He also said that since the government has met part of their demands, the lecturers should for the sake of the young students go back to school, while the Ministry looks at the other issues which couldn’t get concluded at that moment.
Speaking on behalf of the Colleges of Education students, the Chairman of the National Association of Nigerian Students’ Joint Campus Committee, Adediwura Adesina appealed to the Minister to use his fatherly office to ensure that the on-going strike action is called off.
“We understand and appreciate your efforts so far, the way your Ministry has been handling these issues and we are here to appeal to your fatherly office. Sir, we want the strike to be called off as the 2015 election is around the corner. We do not want any politician to use our students as political thugs. Our students are roaming the streets and we are tired. We want to go back to the campus,” Adesina appealed.
He praised the efforts of President Goodluck Jonathan towards uplifting the standard of education in the country and asked his colleagues to give accolades to the president. As the Minister was scheduled to meet with the executive of COEASU on the arrival of the students, the Vice President of COEASU, Smart Olubeko affirmed that meeting with the Federal Government is a sure end for the on-going strike action.
“The meeting is on-going and we can assure you that very soon this matter will be laid to rest. The Minister of Labour and Productivity has been the mediator and he has been doing all he can to ensure that the strike comes to an end speedily. We can assure you that at the end of today’s meeting we shall communicate to you,” Olubeko emphasized.
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