Fuel hike: COEASU directs members to work two days in a week

The national organization representing lecturers at colleges of education, the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU), has ordered its members to report to work two days a week until the federal government accedes to its demand for a 200 percent pay raise.

The declaration was made in a statement published on Wednesday in Abuja and signed by Dr. Smart Olugbeko, national president of the union.

Olugbeko said that the decision was made at the COEASU’s emergency meeting on Tuesday in response to the difficulties its members were having getting to work due to the increase in the price of gasoline.

He emphasized that a liter of fuel had increased by 250 percent since the federal government implemented the elimination of fuel subsidies two months prior.

“This made the cost of transportation, food, and other necessities more expensive and made the Nigerian people poorer.

“Workers, including personnel at institutions of education, remained loyal to the administration and made the decision to put up with the immense suffering in the belief that it would only last a short while because the government had pledged to implement palliative measures.

Alas! While our capabilities to sustain hope were already exhausted, the price of petrol rose further to N650 per litre.

”Now, 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,” he said.

He emphasized that a liter of fuel had increased by 250 percent since the federal government implemented the elimination of fuel subsidies two months prior.

“This made the cost of transportation, food, and other necessities more expensive and made the Nigerian people poorer.

“Workers, including personnel at institutions of education, remained loyal to the administration and made the decision to put up with the immense suffering in the belief that it would only last a short while because the government had pledged to implement palliative measures.

According to Olugbeko, the union had no choice but to order its members to report to work only two days a week.

While urging the federal government to urgently take the necessary action, he added that an emergency NEC meeting would be called to ratify the decision to decide which specific days of the week members were to report to work. He warned that the union’s response to the hardship would have devastating effects on the students.