By Ikwen Atuaka/Iyaka Emmanuel
The end of the three weeks old strike of the College of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) in Federal College of Education, FCE Obudu, may not be soon according to recent findings by CrossRiverWatch.
Sources reveal that after three weeks, the management is yet to meet the aggrieved union which embarked on the strike due to the inability of the school management to fulfil the promises made to them when they called off their seven months strike by the union last year concerning the payment of arrears.
Speaking with CrossRiverWatch, a staff who spoke on condition of anonymity say the provost, Dr. Eugene Ibli had pleaded with them to inform the national council of the union in their meeting at Abuja that, he has paid with a promise to pay after the meeting but stopped short of disclosing whether the Provost’s message got to Abuja and quickly added that they are yet to receive a dime since then.
Another staff of the school revealed that the school management is yet to meet the union to know their reasons for striking which indicates that the union is of no use to them. “We are not asking for the present money, please pay us the one we have worked for”. He said.
Sources in the management say the moneys may not have been embezzled but mismanaged by the authorities. A senior academic alleged that there was ‘truth in that information’ saying “money that is meant for payment of salaries should not be used to buy diesel for the school plant. Let them pay us and let us understand there is no money to buy diesel for the plant and we will all work at home with our personal computers. Until we get paid, no academic activities”.
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