By Aminu Garko
The Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union(COEASU), Federal University of Education (FUE),Kano branch, has condemned the emergence of a splinter group from the union, describing the development as worrisome.
The union’s position is contained in a Letter of Complaint addressed to the Acting Vice Chancellor of the university and circulated to newsmen in Kano on Monday.
The letter was signed by the Chairman of the union,Ado Muhammad Abdullahi and the Secretary,Bello Abdullahi Ringim, among others.
“We are writing on behalf of the Executives and Congress of COEASU FUE, Kano, to formally register our complaint against a splinter group from our members.
“From all indications, they are trying to create chaos and disrupt peace and unity in our ranks by floating a parallel academic staff union.
“We view this as an attempt by a few self-seeking saboteurs to undermine the peaceful and orderly transition process that the Council has already put in place by constituting committees and calling for memorandum from all stakeholders.
“You might have already noticed that staff unions in the university are happy and have strong confidence in management’s ability and willingness to reflect positively on the primary concerns of members of staff during the transition process,” it said.
The union said that COEASU still operated legitimately in Alvan Ikoku University of Education, Owerri and Adeyemi University of Education, Ondo, which were upgraded to universities earlier before FUE Kano.
Similarly, the union said, COEASU operated peacefully in FUE, Zaria which was upgraded alongside FUE Kano.
“Thus, while we acknowledge the right of any lecturer to pull out of the Union, we cannot allow any mischievous attempt at polarizing the University and creating undue animosity and chaos among us.
“Therefore, in view of the potential threat to peace and smooth transition of the Institution to its new status, we urge the management to halt any undue rebellion against our union,” COEASU added.