Education
Academic staff disclaim strike, protest in FCET Umunze
Academic staff of the Federal College of Education have disassociated themselves from the three weeks warning strike purportedly declared by the Chairman of the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU). They also denied report by an online newspaper that lecturers in the institution protested on Monday.
Some of the lecturers that spoke with our reporter on Monday, including Chief Lecturers, Heads of Departments and others denied any strike in the College and distanced themselves from surreptitious attempt to discredit the College Management and plunge the institution into crisis. They insisted that the charade exhibited by COEASU Chairman, Dr Churchill Okonkwo and his cohorts did not reflect the wishes of majority of COEASU members in the College.
A Chief Lecturer and member of the College Academic Board, Dr Nwike Matthew, who spoke to our reporter on Monday, said the College Management has made geniune efforts to clear backlog of allowances, including 14 months salary arrears inherited from the previous administration. He expressed disappointment that despite appeals to the leadership of COEASU to understand the financial state of the College, they demanded for immediate payment of Teaching Practice Mobilisation.
“I do not believe that compelling the College Management to borrow money to make a non-statutory payment is the right approach. Since the College Management pleaded for understanding and patience from the union, my colleagues should have taken the Management by her words,” he said.
Dr Nwike argued that there was no need to paralyse the activities of the College at a time when students were writing their First Semester Examination. He urged those on warpath to rescind their decision and return to the dialogue table with the College Management, which has demonstrated geniune interest in staff welfare.
Also speaking, another lecturer, Mr Kenechukwu Agajelu of the Political Science Department, frowned at the picketing approach adopted by COEASU Chairman and his allies. He said COEASU has no mandate to run to the media to ask parents to withdraw their children from the College. He further kicked against moving into classrooms and examination halls to forcefully drive lecturers and students away. He described such illegal acts as a contravention of labour law.
Agajelu warned COEASU against intimidation and harrasment of lecturers that are conducting their examination, noting that their refusal to join the strike was based on good judgment.
“You called for strike but did not call for picketing. Why are you picketing? Why are you preventing others from going to work through social media posts, phone calls, and physical abuse?
Anybody who is your member is free to join your strike but anybody who is not should be allowed to go on with his/her work. You cannot bring down a College which has other Unions like SSUCOEN, NASU,” he warned.
Agajelu explained that the College was bigger than any personal interest, and condemned in strong words the personal fight hidden in the garb of unionism. He frowned at attempts to use the Union to pursue selfish interest, and insisted that many lecturers were conducting their examination and refused to participate in the strike.
The Head of Department, Education Foundation, Dr Jideofo Ezewuzie said the College defaulted in TETFund Teaching Practice Allowance during the previous administration due to the action of COEASU, but the present administration was able to sort out the issue and payment has resumed. He expressed joy that the first batch of payment has been made, and noted that a fresh payment would soon be made by TETFund.
“TETFund has an existing template and institutions that fail to comply to this template are prevented from accessing further intervention. During the previous administration, there were some breaches of this guideline because of the action of COEASU and the payment stopped. In the first place, the stoppage of payment was caused by the action of COEASU. When the current administration came in, serious efforts were made to resolve this problem and we were happy when the payment started,” he explained.
Dr Ezewuzie admitted the funding challenges facing Colleges of Education, and urged his colleagues to show understanding.
Another lecturer, Delphine Emere of Home Economics Department, who graduated from the College, said the institution has enjoyed uninterrupted academic calendar for more than 10 years now, and disclaimed the purported strike by the Union.
She said the Provost of the College, Dr Okoli was conferred with a Labour Friendly Award by COEASU, South East Zone for staff welfare policies and wondered why some individuals suddenly rose to discredit her administration.
She distanced herself from any insidious plot by some individuals to destroy the peace of the College, insisting that stampeding the Union to strike was detrimental to the students already writing their First Semester examination.
United Nigeria Airlines has pledged N20 million to sponsor the prestigious annual Chinua Achebe Prize for Fiction, administered by the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) for the next 10 years.
The sponsorship deal was disclosed today by the executive chairman of the airline, Professor Obiora Okonkwo, following a discussion with the ANA president, Dr. Usman Akanbi.
Under the arrangement, the airline will provide N2 million every year for the next 10 years to ANA, bringing the total sponsorship to N20 million, a commitment the association says would guarantee the continuation of the prize regardless of the change in the state government.
The yearly award which was initiated by the Anambra State government in 2021 in conjunction with the ANA leadership, has faced financial constraints in the last three years following the failure of the present state administration to continue its sponsorship.
Though the Governor Willie Obiano administration began the sponsorship with one million naira, the Governor Chukwuma Soludo administration that succeeded it in 2022 continued the sponsorship and agreed to ANA’s request to double it in consideration of inflation and administrative costs like payments to judges.
However, after two years, the organisers say the state government appears to have lost interest in continuing with the sponsorship despite several letters reminding it of its promise.
The apparent lack of commitment caused United Nigeria Airlines to intervenee and rescue the prize from uncertainty.
Announcing the airline’s decision to step in, Dr. Akanbi quoted Prof Okonkwo as saying: “Prof Achebe is too precious in our consciousness for the award to continue to suffer the current epileptic funding.”
Speaking on why the airline made the decision to take over the sponsorship, Prof. Okonkwo said that Achebe’s legacy demands this level of commitment.
“Very few men and women of letters and culture in recent history”, he stated, “have brought as much attention and honour to the black race and the African world as the great Achebe through his writings, lectures, speeches, intellectual activism, ethical conduct, and intermittent interventions in political affairs which has made him an authentic conscience of the Nigerian people.
Reacting to the sponsorship, the ANA president, who is a senior academic at the University of Ilorin in Kwara State said: “We are immensely grateful to Prof. Okonkwo and his airline for their patriotic intervention. Prof was not just a world-class raconteur and essayist, but also the ANA founder who started our association in 1981 at the University of Nigeria at Nsukka and accepted to serve as its first president, thus giving it the credibility and platform that has made the association highly respected beyond Nigeria’s shores.”
Akanbi also highlighted Okonkwo’s consistent record of honouring Achebe, stating that Prof. Okonkwo has for some been hard to preserve the late author’s legacy.
For instance, he was solely responsible for financing the erection of a statue of the late Prof. Achebe which was unveiled in July by Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State at the Ugwunwasike Roundabout in Ogidi, Idemili North Local Government Area, Achebe’s own hometown.
The prize sponsorship is the latest effort made by Prof. Okonkwo and United Nigeria Airlines to cement Achebe’s legacy.
In June, one of the two Boeing 737-800NG aircraft purchased by United Nigeria Airlines was named after the late author, while the other was named after His Royal Majesty, Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe, the Obi of Onitsha.
Naming these two aircraft after both men is in line with Prof. Okonkwo’s determination to uphold their values.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Ebonyi State, Chief Ifeanyi Chukwuma Odii, has pledged to overhaul the welfare system of university lecturers and other academic and non-teaching staff in the state if elected governor in 2027.
Odii made the commitment when a delegation of university lecturers from Ebonyi State visited him at his Banana Island residence to discuss areas of possible cooperation and synergy ahead of the 2027 governorship election.
The PDP candidate said his administration would introduce a comprehensive welfare scheme for staff of Ebonyi State University (EBSU) and workers in the state’s newly established tertiary institutions, including the Aeronautic University in Onueke and the ICT University in Oferekpe.
He said the welfare of university workers must be treated as a priority because of their crucial role in producing the skilled manpower needed for the development of the state.
Odii described as “embarrassing and condemnable” a situation where lecturers struggle to afford decent accommodation, maintain reliable means of transportation or pay their children’s school fees, including in some cases where the children attend institutions where their parents teach.
He expressed particular concern over the remuneration of university professors, arguing that a professor earning less than the equivalent of $500 monthly should be considered an emergency requiring urgent government intervention.
The PDP candidate promised that the welfare challenges confronting lecturers and other workers in the tertiary education sector would receive attention within the first six months of his administration if elected.
He said his government would review the remuneration and welfare packages of university workers and introduce measures to make academic careers more attractive, while creating an environment that would enable lecturers and other university staff to perform their duties effectively.
Odii stressed that improving the education sector was central to his vision for Ebonyi State, adding that universities could only produce the quality manpower required for sustainable development when their workers were adequately motivated and supported.
Students of Nnamdi Azikiwe University (NAU), Awka, Anambra State, were allegedly prevented from writing their examinations after they failed to purchase textbooks reportedly authored or recommended by some of their lecturers.
According to complaints received from affected students, the students had paid their required school fees and were duly expected to participate in the examinations. However, they were allegedly turned away from the examination hall because they had not purchased the textbooks.
The students expressed frustration over what they described as an unfair practice, questioning why payment of school fees and fulfilment of other academic requirements would not be sufficient to qualify them to sit for their examinations.
One of the students who spoke on the matter alleged that the affected students were asked to leave the examination venue after it was discovered that they had not bought the textbooks.
The students have appealed to the university authorities to investigate the allegation and ensure that no student is denied access to an examination on the basis of failure to purchase a lecturer’s textbook.
For fear of further victimisation, this report will not disclose the department and names of the lecturers involved.
The development has sparked concerns about academic practices and the welfare of students, with calls for university management to clarify whether lecturers are permitted to make the purchase of their textbooks a condition for students to participate in examinations.
The allegation could not be independently verified at the time of filing this report. The university authorities are yet to publicly comment on the matter.
Students and parents are expected to watch closely for the university’s response to the allegation, particularly given the potential implications for students’ academic progression.
By Okey Maduforo, Awka
The management of Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), Awka, has banned, with immediate effect, all forms of orchestration, celebration and “signing-off” activities by final-year students in connection with their final examinations on all university campuses and premises.
In a statement issued by the Director of Information and Public Relations, Comrade Aloysius Emeka Attah, the university said the decision was prompted by recurring incidents of chaos, violence, vandalism and disruption of academic and administrative activities associated with such events.
“Management is also concerned about the infiltration of unauthorised persons onto campus during these activities, which poses a serious threat to the safety and security of students, staff and university property.
“In fulfilment of its statutory obligation to maintain order, protect lives and safeguard property, Management considers such activities unacceptable and a breach of University regulations,” the statement said.
The university spokesman warned that any student found involved in organising or participating in any form of “signing-off” or related activities would face severe disciplinary sanctions, including rustication and withdrawal from the university, in accordance with the Students’ Handbook.
The statement also warned non-students and outsiders against entering the university premises in connection with the banned activities.
“Any person who is not a bona fide student or staff of the University found on University premises in connection with such activities shall be arrested and prosecuted for breach of peace, trespass and disorderly conduct,” it stated.
The Registrar of the university, Dr Chinenye Gloria Okeke, had earlier communicated the directive to the university community through an internal memo, urging students to remain focused on their academic responsibilities.
She also called on staff, students and members of the public to report any planned or ongoing misconduct to the Chief Safety Officer, Dean of Student Affairs or the nearest university authority for immediate action.
The university, under the leadership of the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Bond Ugochukwu Stanley Anyaehie, said it remained committed to providing a safe, peaceful and conducive environment for teaching, learning and research.
Management, it added, would not tolerate any action capable of undermining the safety, order and academic environment of the institution.
A hostel building has reportedly collapsed at the Federal Polytechnic, Oko, in Orumba North Local Government Area of Anambra State, with an unknown number of students feared trapped beneath the rubble.
The multi-storey building reportedly caved in on Sunday night, July 27, 2026, while students were inside.
Eyewitnesses said residents and students in the area heard a loud rumbling sound shortly before the structure suddenly collapsed, sparking panic.
A large crowd reportedly gathered at the scene as residents and students rushed to assist in the rescue efforts before emergency responders arrived.
Rescue operations are ongoing as authorities work to determine the number of people trapped and evacuate those affected.
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