Workers of the Osun State College of Education in Ila Orangun on Tuesday besieged the State House of Assembly in protest, demanding for the removal of the Chairman of the Governing Council of the institution, Mr Oyeniyi Akande.
The workers, who are members of the College of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) and Non-Academic Staff Union of the institution (NASU), also vowed not to return to work until their demand was met by the State government.
Armed with placards with inscriptions like; ‘Ila Governing Council Chairman and members are thieves’, ‘enough is enough’ and ‘who is this Niyi Akande?”, the protesters marched to the Osun State House of Assembly complex in Osogbo, the capital of the state.
Addressing reporters on behalf of the protesters, the state chairman of COEASU, Mr Jimoh Lasisi, said that the workers could no longer condone the victimisation and abuse of their rights under the leadership of Mr Niyi Akande, the institution’s Governing Council’s Chairman.
He said: “We came to the House to lodge a complaint against the misrule and anarchy of the Council Chairman, Mr Akande”.
The State lawmakers had earlier intervened on the issues of the 72 workers disengaged by the Council in January this year, with a directive that the status quo should remain.
“They have passed a resolution to the Governor and we are sure that the Governor in his magnanimity and hospitality will approve the resolution
“But we were shocked that the Council came to the campus on Friday to hold one of their usual illegal meeting. There, they resolved that the 72 people should not be allowed to come to the campus again not even taking into consideration the way such an action will affect the students.
“We have some lecturers among these people who are handling two or three courses.
“If these lecturers are not allowed into the school again, the students will be adversely affected,” he told reporters.
‘One-Man-Army’
The spokesman for the protesters further said that the council had planned to disengage more people.
He alleged that Mr Akande was ‘a one-man-army’ that had been misusing his position to make illegal decisions.
“We want him removed. We are not giving the government any ultimatum.
“We have decided to withdraw our service until he is removed from office totally,” Mr Lasisi reiterated.
Responding on behalf of the lawmakers, the leader of the House, Honourable Timothy Owoeye, urged the aggrieved protesters to draw up their position papers and forward same to the House for further investigation.
He said: “We have been on this matter for the past seven months.
“The House of Assembly has been discussing how to resolve the issues of disengagement of workers in all our tertiary institutions across the state.
“As you know, the resolution is presently before the Executive Arm of Government for their perusal and to know what to do.
“I want to assure you to continue to follow the path of honour as you have done now.”
“We have listened to you. You have tendered your own position. Before we can mediate, we have to call the other party involved.
“Let us have your position paper. We are on the same page. Whatever you bring to the House of Assembly will be given due consideration. Believe in us to get your matter resolved”.
The leader of the House further assured the protesters that the Speaker would form an ad-hoc committee to look into the matter for peace to reign.
“This is the beauty of democracy. I only urge us to be law abiding to avoid chaos in the state,” he cautioned.
After the leader of the House’s address, the workers also moved on to the secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) along Osogbo-Gbogan Road, where they were received by the secretary of the party, Honourable Razak Salinsile, who also assured them of taking their case before the appropriate authority for the required solution.
