Organised Labour under the aegis of Association of Senior Civil
Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) has concluded mobilization to shut down
Kings College, Lagos and Federal Government College, Idoani, Ondo State
unless the Federal Government takes urgent steps to pay the salary of
Education Officers outstanding since May 2016 in the Schools.
This
was contained in a statement signed by its Secretary-General, Comrade
Alade Bashir Lawal and made available to newsmen on Friday.
The
Union emphasized that Education Officers in the Schools would not resume
classes on Thursday 15th September 2016 unless the salary owed them
since May 2016 were paid by Wednesday 14th September 2016.
It
regretted that since May 2016 Education Officers in King’s College,
Lagos and Federal Government College, Idoani, Ondo State have been put
in a situation of financial embarrassment in violation of Public Service
Rules (PSR).
“It
seems that the decision not to pay salaries to Education Officers in
these schools since May is an experiment which will be extended to other
schools in due course if there is no resistance from the workers and
their Trade Unions as the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Budget
Office of the Federation have continued to shift blames on the matter.
The
Union emphasized that the other 102 Federal Unity Colleges have been
mobilized to join the strike if the Federal Government still refused to
pay Education Officers in the two schools their salaries because “injury
to one is injury to all”.
“We also wish to recall that during the
last Federal Administrations, salaries and allowances including
promotion arrears were not paid to some categories of officers and the
Association is still battling to have those arrears of workers’
legitimate entitlements settled,” the Union stated.
The ASCSN
regretted that the present Federal Government which promised to change
the content and form of governance for the better had started to owe
workers their salaries after they had rendered service to the country.
It
stressed that because salaries of civil servants were meagre and could
not take them to the bus stop let alone take them home when paid
regularly, now that the salaries could not be paid at all, it had been a
tale of hardship for Education Officers some of whom could no longer
afford to buy medication to treat themselves after going to the
hospitals and getting prescriptions.
“It is indeed sad that the
Federal Government has decided to subject these workers and their
families to untold hardship whereas the welfare of the citizens is the
main reason why governments exist in the first instance,” the Union
lamented.
The ASCSN, therefore, urged the Federal Government to take
urgent steps and ensure that salaries of Education Officers in King’s
College, Lagos, and Federal Government College, Idoani, Ondo State,
outstanding since May 2016 were paid without further delay so as to
douse tension that had been building up not only in the two schools but
also in the other 102 Federal Unity Colleges over the issue.
The
Union accordingly advised parents and guardians not to release their
children and wards to resume classes at King’s Colleges and Federal
Government Colleges, Idoani, Ondo State by 15th September 2016 in order
not to subject them to avoidable hardship unless the salaries owed
Education Officers in the schools were paid by Wednesday 14th September
2016.
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