The protest that rocked the Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education, Oto Ijanikin, Lagos, on Friday, has subsided. However, there are concerns that except the government finds a lasting solution to what workers and students described as “poor financial state” of the oldest tertiary institution in Lagos, the college may continue in industrial crises. ADEGUNLE OLUGBAMILA reports:
Students of the Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education (AOCOED), Oto/Ijanikin, Lagos are not happy that their second semester examinations, which were to begin on Monday, have been put on hold because of last Friday’s protest by the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU).
Many students, particularly finalists who are dreaming of signing off from the college after three years of strenuous academic exercise, are worried being victims of a development they are not responsible for.
• Police team from Ijanikin Police statiom on guard…on Monday.
After the protest, team of policemen from the Ijanikin Police Division was stationed at the college gate on Monday, to forestall further uprising. But, by Tuesday, the police vacated as NASU reopened the gates for activities to resume.
The Friday protest disturbed human and vehicular movements as the protesters blocked both ends of the Mile2/Badagry Expressway with AOCOED Students Union buses, a scenario that dragged for about two hours.
On Monday morning, many of the shocked students gathered in front of AOCOED gate discussing their predicament in hushed tones. Some were desperate to know how the exams would be rescheduled. Others simply walked away when it became obvious the exams would not hold.
Worse still, NASU began an indefinite strike that was nipped in the bud on Monday after its meeting with the government in Alausa same day.
The examinations will begin today (August 13) in the nearly 60-year-old institution. However, students insist until the problems that are causing incessant crisis in the institution are fully addressed, peace will remain an illusion in the school.
“We want the Lagos State government to address the problem of underfunding in our college. It has become alarming,” said the President of AOCOED Students’ Union, Waheed Ojoare.
“This and some other problems, such as inadequate infrastructure are generating industrial crisis and affecting our own future as students. We identify with the management and workers who are calling on the government to increase our monthly subvention and give us a financial bailout…” Ojoare told The Nation.
The Genesis
In October last year, the three unions in AOCOED – College of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU), Senior Staff Union of Colleges of Education in Nigeria (SSUCOEN), and NASU – locked up the college in a protest against the management. The workers were protesting the poor financial status of the institution, non-promotion of their members, management’s non-remittance of their pension fund to the administrators and owing the five cooperatives in the college hundreds of millions of naira.
The leadership of COEASU and SSUCOEN, especially, accused the management of not being open with the finances.
The strike dragged for about a month, after which it was suspended following a communiqué signed by both parties spelling out modalities on how the outstanding money owed cooperatives and pension fund administrators would be settled. The government also raised an Audit Committee as demanded by workers to investigate the finances of the college before considering a financial bailout or a raise in its monthly subvention or both.
Following a crisis by the Joint Action Committee (JAC) comprising all four institutions in Lagos-Lagos State University (LASU), Michael Otedola College of Primary Education (MOCPED) Epe; Lagos State Polytechnic (LASPOTECH) and AOCOED in 2009, former governor Babtunde Raji fashola agreed an increase in subvention for all the institutions after the iuuses were resolved in 2010. The Nation checks revealed that since that time government has subsequently released a bailout and a raise in subvention to other sister institutions, while AOCOED is being left out.
The National President of the AOCOED Alumni Association Comrade Adeyemi Adesanya, recalled that as a former chairman of COEASU AOCOED, he alongside others in other tertiary institutions owned by Lagos State, began the agitation for increased subvention to the college.
“The financial state of the college is something we have been discussing over time,” Adesanya lamented.
“Since 2010, we have been agitating for the payment of 53.37 per cent salary increase in the four Lagos higher institutions as approved by the Federal Government. The former administration agreed to increase subventions of the institutions. Though the government said they could only pay 25 per cent, but we all agreed just to let peace reign. But afterwards there has been an increase in the monthly subvention in other sister institutions in Lagos, but AOCOED was left out. What is our offence?” Adesanya asked rhetorically.
According to the management, it recieves N120 million as monthly subvention but spends about N180 million on workers’ salaries and other expenditures.
Workers accuse COEASU/SSUCOEN, of heating up the school
Workers have accused the leadership of COEASU and SSUCOEN, led by Comrades Micheal Avosetinyen and Wunmi Ombugadu, of complicating issues with their ‘strongly worded’ they wrote to the government demanding due process.
• Bashorun
During the college’s 25th convocation, news filtered in that the Provost, Mr Wasiu Olalekan Bashorun, had been reappointed.
However, The Nation reliably gathered that the failure of the management to meet all obligations as contained in the communiqué, compelled the unions to write a series of petitions, which many believed scuttled Bashorun’s reappointment. Worse still, many wonderad at the rationale behind the letters since all had agreed on the poor financial state of the school.
COEASU/SSUCOEN…Our positions
•Ombugadu
Although there is a division within the unions, Avosetinyen and Ombugadu stood their ground, awaiting the report of government’s Audit Committee.
Sources said during the convocation, Ombugadu and Avosetinyen were said to have met the Deputy Governor, Dr Idiat Oluranti Adebule, to book an appointment with her.
On Tuesday last week, the government invited the unions in AOCOED, MOCPED) and LASPOTECH (LASU not included) for a meeting. Ombugadu who spoke on behalf of the unions, was said to have requested that the government should comply with the provisions of the college’s Condition of Service in respect to the appointment of a new provost. Ombugadu was reportedly credited with telling the government to place an embargo on recruitment and conversion of members, a claim she denied.
“As coeasu AOCOED, we have always insisted on due process in appointments,” said Avosentiyen.
“I will describe as unsubstantiated the rumour that our Provost has been given a second term without following due process. Bashorun is a beneficiary of due process.”
He continued: “An advertorial has to be placed and interested candidates would put in their application letters, while the Governing Council oversees interview of all candidates and eventually the shortlisting and appointment of a new provost. But that is not yet done before the news was all over that our provost has been reappointed.”
Ombugadu: I am being threatened
Ombugadu is alleging a threat to life by NASU chairman Comrade Femi Adebayo. Speaking with our reporter on phone, Ombugadu said following a series of letter the union had written to the government, Adebayo has been harassing her and some of her members with touts. Adebayo denied the allegation .
Ombugadu said: “In the communiqué, management promised to be remitting 26 months pension fund arrears twice every month, but later breached that agreement. Management did not also remit our cooperative fund to the five cooperatives. Management had promised to pay 55 per cent within three weeks of suspension of the strike but that was also breached. All these money has been deducted from our salaries. Cooperative had to secure loans from two banks as a form of bailout. We had written several letters of reminder to management, to no avail. Before, the Lagos State government once owed us arrears but has paid all, yet management is not living up to expectation.
“Second, the college has been in a state of impunity, In February 2015, the three unions in the college held a press briefing. That was disrupted by somebody we believe is close to the management. We reported the case to the management but they did not do anything about it.
“I met the deputy governor for the first time on convocation day. Government then called the leadership of the state tertiary institutions-AOCOED, MOCPED, and LASPOTECH for a meeting which was headed by Deputy Governor Dr Idiat Adebule on Tuesday (August 4) last week. I spoke on behalf of AOCOED and pleaded that the college needed a financial bailout and a raise in its monthly subvention. I also said the college has its Condition of Service which should be followed in the appointment of new provost. NASU, and COEASU were there but they never opposed my views.”
She went on: “Shortly after the meeting, the vice chairman of my union called me and said I told the deputy governor to place embargo on employment and conversion of our members. I immediately denied that. But before we arrived the college, the rumour was already all over the place and was generating lots of controversy.
“On Friday, the college was closed by NASU and I was blamed for protest. I was already on my way to work but I had to turn back immediately to avoid the escalation of the protest,” Ombugadu said.
NASU Chairman denies allegations
•Adebayo
“It is just unfortunate that you don’t know Ombugadu,” Adebayo said.
“It is a fictitious story and she is insulting my personality. She should show the public ‘some’ of the my touts that she claimed have been harassing her. This is an academic setting and that is abnormal
“I can tell you categorically that she made that reckless statement. The director of education in the Ministry (of Education) and several top government officials were in that meeting. You can ask them for confirmation.
“To me, It was like that meeting was stage-managed. She was the one that was asked by the government representative to speak on our behalf. I was not allowed to utter a word, despite my protest. We raised our hands but were prevented.
“In truth it was NASU that protested to again draw government’s attention to the financial state of AOCOED. Our grouse is that the pitiable financial state of the college is crippling us. We urgently need a bailout and an increase in subvention. That was what our union told government in a meeting on Monday. No one would shy away from the fact that the college is grossly underfunded and management within its power has been struggling to meet its responsibilities to workers. All we are interested is that government should pay our money because all unions are highly indebted. Since government gave a bailout to LASU, MOCPED and LASPOTECH, then AOCOED should not be an exception.”
Reactions from the floor
A teacher in the college who pleaded not to be named, described Bashorun as a good but gullible person.
“He (Bashorun) is a good person who means well for the institution. I remember his manifestoes when he assumed office and I can see he fulfilled many of them. The problem I have is that the man is surrounded by sycophants who are not telling him the truth. Unfortunately, he is too gullible to read in between the lines before things got out of hand.”
Another SSUCOEN member who pleaded anonymity said: “We all heard Bashorun’s second term appointment had been finalised; but SSUCOEN leadership appears to be his greatest enemy. Even here, (SSUCOEN), some of us are favourably disposed to his ambition. Nonetheless, I expected him to have immediately summoned the leadership of SSUCOEN and COEASU, after hearing the news of his appointment and appealed to them, either through entering a pact or pleading for more time to attend to their requests.”
Mgt praises Dep.Governor’s maturity
The Registrar, Olumuyiwa Coker, said the management promptly complied with government’ directive since the letter arrived on Friday.
Coker said: “Despite the rumour flying around, we want to thank the deputy governor for her magnanimity and maturity by calling the staff unions to hear their views and wading into the crisis and restoring peace. We are also absolving any top official in government of having a hand in our crisis. Government has the final say on all matters.”
The college PRO, Adebowale Odunayo, said: “The management regrets that the second semester examinations scheduled to begin Monday would now start today (Thursday). Calm has returned to AOCOED. Meanwhile, the management is currently reviewing and appraising situations and looking at issues and would make an official statement in due course.”
We shall not compromise due process…Govt.
A top government official, who also pleaded not to be mentioned, said the government would not bend rules for anybody.
“Our governor (Ambode) does not favour anybody. He is not the one that would circumv ent rules. He follows procedure. He follows everything to the letter.
“All the talk about second term is a mere rumour. That is why I’m advising journalists to always crosscheck their facts before going to the press,” the source concluded.
Peace has since returned to the institution as students finally begin their second semester examination today.
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