By Bologi Muhammed
Travellers moving through Lokoja to both the northern and southern parts of the country are currently going through hard times due to the ongoing protest by students of Kogi State University, Anyigba.
The students, in their thousands, shut down the state capital, on Thursday morning leaving many travelers stranded, in protest of the three month industrial action which has kept them at home.
Lecturers in the school went on strike three months ago to protest the non-payment of their salaries as well as other unfulfilled demands they made from the government.
The state government has admitted owing the lecturers, but added that part of the debt was piled up during the immediate past administration of Captain Idris Wada (rtd)
“Out of that five, we have paid four,” an official said. The lecturers’ union is not impressed, however.
“The (strike) action will be sustained till the last kobo owed is paid,” Chairman of the school’s Academic Staff Union, Daniel Aina, had said on Monday.
According to Aina, the lecturers also want the government to undertake to pay salaries of each month before the second week of the following month.
The government has however been reluctant to sign such undertaking due to the unpredictable nature of the revenue flow in recent times.
The lecturers also want a seven- month tax rebate agreement it reached with Captain Wada’s administration implemented.
The two feuding parties have however failed to shift grounds, prompting the students to hit the streets in order to draw the attention of the world to their plight.
