Students in Osun State-owned tertiary institutions on Monday in the state capital Osogbo protested against the prolonged strike by their lecturers.
The students, who stormed the state secretariat at about 11am, prevented the Deputy Governor, Mrs. Titi Laoye-Tomori, and her convoy, from gaining access to the premises.
The deputy governor, who arrived at the secretariat about 12.50pm, could not go in or exit the place as some of the protesters laid in the front and back of her car.
The encounter lasted for almost an hour before the students allowed her into the secretariat. Before then, the deputy governor had promised the students that they would return to classes by next Monday.
Laoye-Tomori said, “The governor sympathises with you and we feel the same way you feel. We have been negotiating with your lecturers. The governor is not in town now.
“I know the strike will affect your National Youth Service Corps scheme. We have told the union chairmen to meet with the lecturers to rectify the issues.”
Earlier, the students had engaged the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Mr. Lawrence Oyeniran, by poking his stomach and making jest of him.
However, security operatives came to Oyeniran’s rescue as they shielded him from the students.
Lecturers in the four state-owned institutions have been on strike for over three months now. They are kicking against the non-payment of salaries and non-remittance of their pension deductions, among other challenges.
The protesters, mainly students of the Osun State Polytechnic, Iree; Osun State College of Technology, Esa Oke; colleges of education at Ila and Ilesa, started the protest from Olaiya and trekked to Abere, the state secretariat, singing anti-government songs.
The Chairman, National Association of Nigerians Students, Osun State chapter, Mr. Lukman Adekitan, who said the students were tired of staying at home, called on Governor Rauf Aregbesola to urgently address all the outstanding issues raised by the lecturers.
The Chairman of the National Association of Osun State Students, Adekunle Animashaun, also said the state government had yet to pay 2014 and 2015 bursary to them.
He also called on the government to improve on the infrastructure in tertiary institutions in the state.
Meanwhile, the Public Relations Officer of the Council of Academic Staff Unions of Osun State-Owned Tertiary Institutions, Mr. Dotun Omisore, in an interview with our correspondent, said the state government had invited the striking lecturers to a meeting on Wednesday.
He said, “Yes, the deputy governor called me. She said we should go and resume because the students were suffering. I told her that we were also suffering.
“We will not resume until our demands are met. We are being owed eight months salaries, pension deductions from our salaries were not remitted to our retirement savings accounts with various Pension Fund Administrators.”
The lecturers on Sunday in a statement, had accused the state government of blackmail.
The statement read, “Non-payment of salaries for the past eight months and leave bonuses for two years even after collecting bailout from the Federal Government for that purpose.
“We dissociate ourselves from the MoU of the NLC with the government on this. We are shocked that despite the unacceptable MoU, the government only paid us one month salary from the bail-out so far.
“Cut-throat tax due to implementation of PITA 2011 without full adoption of statutory salary structure (CONPCASS 2009) is making us the least paid but highest taxed nationwide.
“In the overall interest of all stakeholders, including the innocent students of these institutions, we advise the state government to redirect the precious resources being dissipated to intimidate us, misinform the public and blackmail our unions in the last few weeks towards sincere and amicable dialogue for the resolution of the ongoing industrial crisis.”
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