Aregbesola, lecturers disagree over strike
APRIL 23, 2013
Osun State Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola
Governor Rauf Aregbesola and the lecturers of Osun-owned tertiary institutions have disagreed over the six-week-old strike rocking the schools.
Addressing a news conference in Osogbo on Monday, the lecturers accused the state government of insincerity in bringing the strike to an end.
Spokesperson for the joint academic unions, Mr. Olusegun Onifade, said the government had refused to pay lecturers contributory pension scheme and consolidated salary structure.
The schools include the state’s polytechnic in Iree, College of Technology in Esa-Oke, College of Education in Ilesa and College of Education in Ila-Orangun.
Onifade also said that it was wrong of the government to peg the retirement age of lecturers at 60, stressing that the approved age by the Federal Government was 65 years.
“We are not fomenting trouble. We are demanding our rights. If the government shows sincerity, we will open negotiation,” Onifade said.
But the Osun State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Chief Sunday Akere, refuted the allegations by the lecturers, saying they should place the interest of students above personal interests.
Akere spoke during a dinner organised for the new Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof Adekunle Okesina, in Ada.
The commissioner said, “Our dear lecturers should call off the strike in the interest of all . The Rauf Aregbesola administration is a transparent one; we know how much comes into the coffers of the government from Abuja and how much goes out.
“We don’t want our students to suffer anymore. We appeal to our lecturers to go back to work. As a government that prides itself in the tenets of the rule of law, we won’t do anything to jeopardise the rule of law or negate the interest of workers.”
No comments:
Post a Comment