Alvan College of Education workers embark on a warning strike

The staff of Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education Owerri Imo state under the platform of Joint Action Committee comprising all the unions in the instruction Thursday announced the commencement of one week warning strike.

The four unions in the instruction involved in the strike include Academic Staff Union, Senior Staff Union of Colleges of Education in Nigeria, Non Academic Staff Union and National Association of Academic Technologists.

The spokesperson for the coalition, Dr Bede Blaise Onwuagboke said that the industrial action was sequel to the decision of the Governing Council of the college to elongate the tenure of the provost, Dr Blessing Ijioma, who attained the compulsory retirement age of 65 years on August 2,2017.

But the chairman of the Governing Council, Alex Hart, said that the Council would not rescind on its decision, adding that the Representatives of the Federal ministry of Education and all the relevant education bodies were part of the decision to allow the provost serve out her second tenure in office by July 2018.

According to him, “every decision we took was in line with the extent laws of the college and that of the federal republic of Nigeria. All the documents we laid our hands on proved that the provost has a running tenure that would expire in 2018 and it was only lawful that she finishes her constitutional tenure in office.”

Hart said” The decision of the Governing Council is final. We acted based on law. I hope the striking workers also acted based law.”

Addressing newsmen in Owerri the spokesperson who was flanked by the members of JAC said that the waning strike which took effect from Thursday was to compel the third governing Council of the collage to advise the College Provost to proceed on her compulsory retirement having reached 65 years on August 2.

“We demand among other things that the Governing Council of the College should withdrew the illegal approval of immediate retirement and completion of tenure and cause the provost to appropriately proceed on retirement immediately having attained the mandatory age of 65 years on August 2,2017, in accordance with the scheme of service of the College Of Education system.

The Governing Council of the College should appoint from the abundant amply qualified academic staff in the College a credible, honest, people oriented and Labour friendly acting provost while setting in motion the process for appointing a substantive protest of Alvan Ikoku extraction for the college “.

JAC chided the federal ministry of Education for its alleged slow response in the petition it wrote on how the provost had wanted to purportedly persuad herself in office upon retirement and warned that upon the expiration of the warning strike if nothing tangible was done to advise the provost to vacate office having attained 65 years, it would proceed on a full blown industrial action.