115 Federal Unity Colleges across Nigeria are yet to commence academic activities, nearly two weeks into the nationally approved resumption date, following the strike action by members of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN).‎‎
The disagreement between the Federal Government and the Staff of the Unity Colleges can be traced back to the concession of the King’s College, Lagos to the King’s College Old Boys Association. ‎‎
The protest in Lagos led to a five-point agreement between the government and the union, with the industrial action to be suspended, the promise of no punishment of members of the union who took part in the protest and policemen withdrawn from the school.‎‎
Two days after the agreement, on September 16, the strike was suspended by the government with concession plans with KCOBA continued. ‎‎
However, it was reported that some groups of the union directly under the ASCSN President, Shehu Mohammed continued with the strike, claiming that the September 14 agreement was breached by the government.‎‎
The Chairman of the ASCSN chapter at King’s College, Sam Enang addressed the ongoing strike, claiming that the government went back on the initial agreement, adding that members of the union have been deceived.‎‎
According to him, the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa engaged another group of the union which lacked the capacity to speak for the rest of the union, as opposed to engaging the Shehu Mohammed group of the union that continued the protest and could influence decisions. ‎‎
Additionally, Enang stated that despite the Federal Government’s directive for academic activities to resume on Sunday after the concession was suspended, such activities have not commenced in King’s College, Lagos or any of the other Unity Colleges across the country. ‎‎He further revealed that an online platform has been a mode of communication among the staff, with ensured compliance by state level ASCSN.‎‎
The strike action is set to continue until the concession of King’s College, Lagos and other agreements have been resolved.