Committee of Unions in Tertiary Institutions (CUTI) has dissociated itself from the recent comment of the Joint Academic Staff Union in Tertiary Institutions (JASUTI).
CUTI also distanced itself from the ongoing strike action at the Colleges of Education, saying the administration of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has done creditably well for Education sector and welfare, even if there are always rooms for improvements.
“Committee of Union in Tertiary Institutions wishes to dissociate herself from a press release where the Governor was unnecessarily castigated by JASUTI (COEASU). We wish to set the record straight that His Excellency is committed to the development of Tertiary Education in Kwara State,” Chairman CUTI Comrade Gegele Oladimeji and the Secretary CUTI Comrade Issa Mariam said in a joint statement issued on Thursday following its emergency executive meeting.
“As a Committee of Unions, it would be ungrateful of us to ignore the landmark and purposeful concern of the governor since the inception of his administration in the advancement of Tertiary Education in the state,” the statement added.
CUTI maintained that the administration of AbdulRazaq has shown reasonable commitment in resolving issues inherited from the last administration.
“So far, the government has shown reasonable commitment in resolving issues inherited from the last administration some of which include: payment of outstanding salaries to workers of all the Colleges; the release of N70m to the managements of College of Education Ilorin, Oro Lafiagi and College of Arabic and Islamic Legal Studies (CAILS), this year as special grant in support of NUC accreditation for affiliated degrees courses in the colleges,” the body said.
“And the recent government attention to the agitation of CUTI on the implementation of the N30,000 minimum wage and consequential adjustment, the Office of the Head of Service inaugurated the negotiation committee on Tuesday, 2nd of June comprising all the relevant Unions NASU, SSUCOEN and COEASU. Negotiation is at its final phase with the Office of the Head of Service Kwara State, working on the draft of the agreement to seal the negotiation process and commence implementation of minimum wage with effect from 1st of July, 2022.
“Consequently, CUTI is disassociating itself from the malicious position of the JASUTI, Kwara State, while urging the Government to consider an upward review of the monthly subvention to all colleges and release funds for the implementation of the agreement reached with government soonest.
“We wish to pledge our unalloyed loyalty to the government while engaging in dialogue to resolve all pending issues.”
