The Organised Labour Enugu State Chapter has given a 14-day ultimatum to Enugu State Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi to quickly remove the Chairman of Enugu State Universal Basic Education Board (ENSUBEB), Mr Ikeji Asogwa, who allegedly physically assaulted Onagu Ogbodo, the Permanent Secretary of the Board.
Without the suspension, Labour says the state could face “impending mass demonstration by the public servants of the state,” insisting that the “sanctity of the service must be maintained.”
In a letter addressed to Governor Ugwuanyi, entitled “14 Days Ultimatum To Remove Mr Ikeji Asogwa as The Chairman of Enugu State Universal Basic Education Board (ENSUBEB),” signed by the Chairman of Trade Union Congress (TUC) and Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) in the state, Igbokwe Chukwuma Igbokwe and Virginus Chuks Nwobodo respectively, the Organised Labour “condemned totally the barbaric and gangstaric act in the public service of Enugu State” masterminded by Asogwa.
The letter dated November 30, 2017 was copied to the deputy governor, Speaker of Enugu State House of Assembly, Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Chief of Staff, Government House, Head of Service, the state Commissioner of Police, the state Director of State Security Service (DSSS), among others.
Daily Trust recalls that on Tuesday November 28, 2017, Asogwa reportedly brought in thugs who beat up and striped Ogbodo in the premises of the Board as the incident was witnessed by the state deputy governor, Chief of Staff, and few other top government functionaries, as well as staff of the Board and passersby.
The TUC and NLC stated that “it is our strong position that Mr Ikeji Asogwa is not fit to continue as the chairman of ENSUBEB having violated the Public Service rule by engaging in an act of gross misconduct. We advise that people of such character should be appointed to head motor parks and markets where their skills will be more useful and not in the public service.”
The Organised Labour said that the “brutalization of a civil servant by Asogwa with the aid of thugs and policemen is desecration of the public service and is totally unacceptable and un-condonable to the Organised Labour and the Enugu State Civil/Public Servants,” emphasizing that “there are laid down procedure to discipline erring civil/public servants as provided by the public service rules.”
Both Igbokwe and Nwobodo expressed shock and disappointment that Asogwa who was a former governorship aspirant and also former chairman of a leading political party could degenerate so low to beating a very senior civil servant, adding that “if he can do that to a permanent secretary, then the rest of the workers are in great danger.”
Organised Labour further expressed worry and concerns about the fact that Asogwa is heading a primary educational board where morality and discipline should be the order of the day, “hence his brutal act shows that he is not fit to handle the position as he may have been extending his brutal act to the teachers and pupils of the schools under the Board without them crying out.”
According to Igbokwe and Nwobodo, “In view of the above, the Organised Labour In Enugu State is giving a fourteen days ultimatum (effective from Monday, December 4, 2017) for Your Excellency to remove Mr Ikeji Asogwa as the chairman of the Enugu State Universal Basic Education Board to avert the impeding mass demonstration by the public servants in Enugu state as an injury to one is an injury to all.”
