Labour gives 21 days ultimatum to shutdown Unity Schools over welfare issues of members
By Eberechi Obinagwam
The Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) has given the federal government a 21-day ultimatum to address welfare issues affecting its members in the 110 Unity Colleges throughout the Country.
In a statement, the association said if the federal government refuses to call for a meeting to address the issues within the time frame, they will order its members to start trade union actions in the schools.
ASCSN secretary- general, Comrade Joshua Apebo, while given the ultimatum in a letter sent to the Federal Ministry of Education in Abuja on Thursday, 23rd January 2025, expressed regret that all efforts since 2023 to bring the Management of the Federal Ministry of Education to the negotiating table to discuss welfare matters affecting its members in the 110 Unity Schools and the Federal Education Quality Assurance Service (FEQAS) throughout the country have been treated with contempt.
The Union is demanding that the outstanding welfare issues be addressed, including payment of promotion, salary, and elongation arrears; payment of allowance to Education Officers displaced from Unity Schools in the North-East; and payment of first 28 days in lieu of hotel accommodation as stipulated in the Public Service Rules.
Additionally, the Union is seeking the disarticulation of Junior Secondary Schools from Senior Secondary Schools to create vacancies at the Directorate level, payment of transport allowance and DTA to FEQAS staff, and a reduction of the exorbitant medical fees charged by the Health Management Organisation (HMO) under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
“There are also issues of regularization of appointment of PTA teachers, implementation of the White Paper which stipulates that Units of the Association in the 110 Federal Unity Schools should be members of the School Based Management Committees (SBMCs) so that they could be part of the decision-making processes in the Schools, scholarship for children of Education Officers in Colleges where their parents teach in line with the directive of former President, Muhammadu Buhari.
“We have also consistently demanded for the resumption of Quarterly Meetings with the Union where welfare issues affecting members of the Association in the headquarters of the Ministry, those in the 110 Federal Government Colleges, and those in FEQAS throughout the country can be discussed and resolved in the interest of industrial peace and harmony but all our gestures for dialogue have been rebuffed,” Comrade Apebo regretted.
The Union emphasized that since all efforts to bring the Federal Ministry of Education to the dialogue table had been frustrated and since the National Leadership of the Association could no longer contain the restiveness of its members in the Unity Colleges and FEQAS, no further notice would be required after the expiration of the 21 days ultimatum issued on Thursday 23rd January 2025 before Trade Union actions start in the Unity Schools and FEQAS.
It accordingly urged all stakeholders to prevail on the Federal Ministry of Education to embrace dialogue now instead of waiting for the industrial actions to start only for them to begin to plead with the Union to sheath its swords.
