COEASU threatens strike as management crisis unsettles Imo college

Academic staff at the Benjamin Uwajumogu State College of Education in Imo have threatened to embark on a strike.

NAN reports that the staffers called on Hope Uzodimma, the state governor, to intervene in a management crisis plaguing the institution.

The crisis, it is understood, borders on the acting provost Maryrose Nwachukwu, resource usage, and contract award procedures.

The Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) at the institution accused Nwachukwu of abusing her powers and awarding contracts without due process.

It stated that the provost had been acting for 30 months but paid imprest for only five months to directors, deans, and department heads.

Imprests are funds used in an organisation for small expenditures and are usually restored to a fixed amount periodically.

The union claimed that directors, deans, and department heads have been using their funds to prepare accreditation documents and logistics since March 2024.

It alleged that the provost procured items single-handedly and awarded TETFund contracts without academic deans and HOD involvement or due process.

It accused Nwachukwu of solely accessing TETFund for microteaching laboratory equipment without the knowledge of the HOD of the office.

COEASU argued that TETFund projects executed under her watch were poorly executed and did not follow the college’s development plan.

“She awards TETFund contracts in the college without following the Procurement Act 2007 guidelines and has awarded over N1.5 billion contract without tenders board, which comprises academic deans and HODs,” the union said.

The COEASU chairman Wilson Amandi and its secretary in the college Benedict Amuchie asked the state government to intervene.

Both executives said the union is forced to consider embarking on a strike in two weeks, should the matter remain unresolved.

The union expressed concern that the claims of insecurity cited for the non-provision of the essentials were not investigated.

It accused the provost of terminating the acting bursar’s appointment without reason, forcing him to hand over to a new appointee.

COEASU said it wrote letters seeking state intervention through the chief of staff Ferdinard Uzodimma and alleged that Nwachukwu ignored invitations to meet the governor’s aide.

Reacting, the provost described COEASU’s allegations as “baseless”, insisting that her actions were based on state directives.

On the sacked bursar, Nwachukwu said the college did not have a governing council and that the commissioner of education oversees the affairs of the institution.