The Bauchi state government pleaded with the striking academic and non-academic staff unions in the state’s five tertiary institutions on Thursday to call off their strike as soon as possible in order for the government to resolve their demands.
At a press conference held at Government House in Bauchi, the state’s head of civil service, Yahuza Adamu Haruna, expressed concern about the striking staff’s refusal to allow the state government to address their concerns rather than going on strike.
He stated that calling off the strike will allow the state government to continue negotiations with the leadership of the unions’ Joint Acton Committee (JAC) in the hopes of finally resolving their demands.
“We are surprised by the JAC members’ strike, despite the State Government’s efforts to resolve their demands. We have engaged JAC leadership on resolutions of their demands, and the Government is taking measures to ensure that it resolves demands of not only tertiary institution staff, but other civil servants in the civil service.”
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“We are concerned that we were not notified as Government by the striking staff before they went on strike, but the administration of His Excellency, Governor Bala Mohammed is pro-masses, workers friendly, and is on top of addressing salaries and other related issues raised.”
According to the Hos, his office recently hosted all accounting officers of Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) for crucial meetings in an effort to end the state’s lingering salary problem.
Also speaking, the Commissioner for Education, Dr Aliyu Tilde, urged all stakeholders in the education sector, including members of the Joint Acton Committee, to cooperate with the state government in the ongoing education reforms.
The five tertiary institutions currently on strike are Abubakar Tatari Ali Polytechnic Bauchi, Adamu Tafawa Balewa College of Education Kangere, Aminu Saleh College of Education Azare, and AD Rufai College of Legal Studies.
