The Governor of Bayelsa State, Mr. Seriake Dickson, has failed to resolve the ongoing industrial action involving all categories of workers at the only state-owned Niger Delta University (NDU) five months after the institution was shut down.
Investigations revealed that the closure of the institution has dealt deadly blows on the students and lecturers who are at the receiving end of idleness and economic hardship caused by non-payment of salaries.
Lecturers under the aegis of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and other categories of workers commenced industrial action in April to protest the inability of the government to pay them salaries since January.
The workers said having suffered to discharge their duties without salaries from January to April, they were no longer unable to cope with domestic pressure and cost of going to school for their lectures.
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ASUU declared work-to-rule, asked its members to stay at home pending when government would ameliorate their hardship by paying their backlog of salaries.
But negotiations to resolve the conflict between the government and the workers were said to have met brick-walls following allegations by ASUU that the government instead of seriously tackling the issues resorted to blackmails to cow them.
It was further learnt that while ASUU had reduced their terms demanding only two months salaries out of the four they earlier wanted, the government had yet to shift ground on its proposed 50 per cent salaries for two months.
It was further learnt that within the period of the strike, three students and a lecturer of the university lost their lives in circumstances blamed on the action.
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