Members of the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) have been instructed to report to work only two days a week.
As a result of the increase in petrol prices by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), the umbrella body of lecturers in the nation’s colleges of education issued the directive.
According to COEASU’s National President, Dr Smart Olugbeko, the union’s members must adhere to the new order until the Federal Government agrees to its demand of a 200 per cent salary increase.
According to Olugbeko, the decision was reached during the COEASU’s extraordinary meeting held on Tuesday as a result of the hike in petrol prices.
The federal government removed fuel subsidies two months ago, raising the price of a litre of petrol by 250 percent.
According to the statement: “This worsened the inflationary rate on the cost of transportation, food and other essential commodities and impoverished the Nigerian people.
” Workers, including staff of colleges of education, kept faith with the government and chose to endure the untold hardship, thinking it would be only for a while as the government promised to roll out palliative measures.
” Alas! While our capabilities to sustain hope were already exhausted, the price of petrol rose further to N650 per litre.
” Now, the leadership of the union has been inundated by members’ complaints that they could no longer go to work as a result of a hike in the price of petrol and resultant high cost of transportation.”
It became inevitable for the union to require members to work only two days per week, according to Olugbeko.
During the emergency NEC meeting, he called on the federal government to take urgent action against the hardship as the actions of the union against the hardship would have devastating effects on the students. He also called for an emergency meeting to ratify the decision to decide the specific days of the week members should work.