Jonathan orders end to strike by Colleges of Education

19 March 2014, 15:11

Abuja - President Goodluck Jonathan has ordered that the protracted strike embarked upon by lecturers in Colleges of Education across the country be brought to an end.

The Minister of Labour and Productivity, Emeka Wogu Wogu, announced this when he addressed members of National Association of Nigerian Students’ Joint Campus Committee in Abuja on Tuesday.

He said that the strike would be over soon. "The President has mandated that this industrial action by your teachers should be brought to an end.

"The president is determined to make sure that education is revamped from the state he met it. The grievances and demands of your teachers have received Federal Government’s attention.

"It is very painful that education system in this country has been in a state of decadence over three decades’’, he said.

Wogu described education as a topmost priority of Jonathan’s Transformation Agenda, hence the need for his intervention to restore normalcy in the sector.

The minister appealed to the striking lecturers to go back to class as government had shown commitment to meeting their demands.

Chairman of the students’ joint committee, Adediwura Adesina, appealed to the minister to use his good offices to ensure that the strike was brought to an end.

"We understand and appreciate the way your ministry has been handling this issue so far. We are here to appeal to you, sir, to help us end the strike.

"The 2015 election is around the corner, we do not want any politician to use our students as thugs as they are presently roaming the streets’’, Adesina said.

- NAN