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- Demands 200% salary adjustment
Following the increase in fuel price due to the removal of subsidy on the product, the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU), has directed its members across the country to only go to work twice in a week until the government meets its demands for 200 percent salary adjustment.
President Bola Tinubu announced the end to fuel subsidies in May while being sworn in. Since then, price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) has risen from 198 Naira to recently 617 Naira.
COEASU, in a statement signed by its national president, Dr. Smart Olugbeko, said the salaries of the lecturers which have not been reviewed for 13 years, can no longer support them to work given the new fuel price and cost of living in the country.
He further disclosed that the leadership of the Union has been inundated by members’ complaints that they could no longer go to work as a result of hike in the price of petrol and resultant high cost of transportation
According to Olugbeko, “Against this backdrop, it has become inevitable for the Union to direct members to go to work only two days weekly while an emergency NEC meeting shall be convened to ratify this decision and decide on the specific days of the week members are to go to work.
“The present salary of staff of Colleges of Education was approved in the year 2010 – 13 years ago! This means we have been on same salary since 2010 while petrol price rose intermittently from N65/N70 in 2010 to N650 in 2023 (tenfold increase). Our salary structure which is subject to renegotiation at 3-year interval has remained static for 13 years, skipping four due renegotiations. It is ludicrous that Government has refused to return to the negotiation table on the welfare package for staff after the Union, prior to the removal of fuel subsidy, had proposed 200% increase in salary as against Government offer of a ridiculous 35% for Chief Lecturers and 23% for other cadres.
Olugbeko, called on the Federal government to urgently do the needful because the inevitable action of the Union against this hardship will have devastating effects on the students as it will lead to a prolonged academic calendar
“A semester of 16 weeks will become 32 weeks or more; while Teaching Practice exercise of 6 months will become 12 months.” He warned.
“We call on His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to quickly address the issue of salary adjustment for staff of Colleges of Education. We believe in the capacity of the President to address this problem as he did when he was the Governor of Lagos State where he so generously increased the salaries of staff in the then Lagos State-owned Colleges of Education that they became the highest paid nationwide.” The Union’s president appealed.
