Joint Nasarawa union vows to continue strike

The Joint Union of Nasarawa state Tertiary Institutions has expressed dismay over attitude of the state government towards resolving the ongoing strike by the union.

Chairman of the union, Comrade Useini Paul, disclosed this on a Friday while speaking with journalists in Lafia on the four weeks old industrial action embarked by the state owned tertiary institutions.

The Joint Union of Nasarawa State Tertiary Institutions comprises of Nasarawa state Polytechnic Lafia, College of Agriculture Lafia and College of Education Akwanga

They embarked on industrial action four weeks ago over alleged failure of the state government to address some of their demands.

Useni said their demands include the non-implementation of promotion of staff from 2013- 2019, nonpayment of pensions and gratuity to retirees and non-implementation of the white paper on investigation of the three institutions set up by the state government among others.

Useini pointed out that “the state government had not made any genuine commitment to address their demands and other challenges faced by the institutions.”

Meanwhile, president Students Union Government (SUG) Comrade Johnpaul Emmanuel, and the Speaker of the Students Parliament Emmanuel Ude of College of Agriculture Lafia, described the ongoing strike by union of the institutions “as a colossal setback to the development of education in the state.”

They appealed to the union and the state government to take urgent steps to resolve the impasse.

However, Nasarawa state Commissioner for Higher Education, Clement Uhembe ,in a swift reaction said the state government had been engaging the leadership of the union in meetings to end the strike.

Leave a Reply