No more strike at Benue varsity
SIR: After approximately five months of strike at Benue State University that crippled academic activities due to the inability of the state government to pay salaries and allowances of the lecturers, it would be unreasonable to allow lecturers to go on strike again just because of the failure of the governor to offset their allowances as agreed before the suspension of the strike.
Prior to the halt of the last industrial action, Governor Samuel Ortom had met with the striking lecturers and sorted things out with them. However, one of the things that necessitated the strike in the first place was the non-payment of the lecturers’ allowances by the state government. During the round table meeting, Governor Ortom agreed and it was signed that he will be paying the allowances together with their salaries without hitches.
But the October salary of the lecturers was paid less the agreed allowances. Therefore, lecturers are meeting, asking questions and almost reaching at the point of embarking on another strike, yet the governor is unyielding. Is this the change that Governor Ortom promised the Benue people?
Aside the non-payment of allowances of the lecturers, the over N28 billion bailout fund released by the Federal Government recently for Benue workers is hanging.
Governor Ortom should know that the card readers that Benue people used in voting him in as their governor can as well be used to vote him out if he continues being lackadaisical and adamant to issues that touch the sensitivity of Benue citizens.
•Awunah Terwase,
Mpape, Abuja.
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