FG must sack Education minister now - Students

The national union of Colleges of Education students have called for the removal of the Supervisory Minister of Education, Mr. Nyesom Wike, because of his inability to resolve the differences between the Federal Government and their lecturers.

The lecturers have been on strike over their demand for standardised education and their welfare.

In a communique issued after an emergency meeting at Abuja, the students urged the Federal Government to meet the demands of Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) and those of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) before January 14, 2014.

The students also asked President Goodluck Jonathan to appoint a substantive Minister of Education and desist from leaving the sector in the hands of a supervisory minister.

The communique, which was signed by the National Association of Polytechnic Students (NAPS), Comrade Ogbonaya Sunday; NAPS Senate President, Comrade Lukeman Salahudeen; FCT NANS Chairman, Comrade Adediwara Adesina and others, enjoined the Academic Staff Union of Universities, COEASU and ASUP to embrace the Integrated Personnel Payroll System (IPPS) to curtail incidents of ghost workers.

According to the communique, the Federal Government should restructure IPPS in a manner that will be easy for lecturers to deduct loan, union dues and their salaries without travelling.

While stating their stand, the students’ leadership stated that “Each SUG president from all Colleges of Education and Polytechnics in Nigeria should raise money from union account and mobilise 100 students from each campus to the office of the Supervisory Minister of Education.

“We are going to continue our lecture and campus life till the Federal Government resolve issues with our lecturers.”

The communique noted that the students had realised the unserious attitude of the government towards the standardization of education and well-being of lecturers in Colleges of Education and Polytechnics in Nigeria.