College of education academic staff suspends strike action

By AKOR SYLVESTER-Abuja

After two months at home, the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union, (COEASU) has suspended its nationwide strike for what it calls a “cool-off-period of 60 days”.

The communiqué jointly signed by the President of COEASU, Smart Olugbeko and General Secretary Ahmed Lawan Bazza, the union said: “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”.

It further said the National Executive Council (NEC) of the union met at NCCE, Abuja, on Wednesday, to re-assess the status of issues leading to the three-week roll-over of the national strike action that started on 10th June, 2022 and decide the way forward.

The union based its decision to suspend the strike on what it described as satisfactory improvement on issues contained in the workers’ demand.

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

“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 N15 billion only to COEs without further delay.”

It also said that the renegotiation of COEASU-FGN 2010 agreement on which the government has been dilly-dallying over time has eventually commenced and it was satisfied by the progress made so far.