By Donatus Nadi,  Lafia
Joint Union of Nasarawa State Tertiary Institutions at the weekend  expressed worry  over  the non challant attitude of the state government towards the resolution of  the protracted  strike embarked on by the union to press home their demands.
The union  Chairman, Comrade Useini Paul while speaking with  journalists in Lafia on the four weeks old industrial action   vowed that the state owned tertiary institutions comprising the state Polytechnic Lafia, College of Agriculture Lafia and College of Education Akwanga would  be shot as long as the government remained adamant over their demands.
According to the union chairman, the three state owned tertiary institutions in Nasarawa state embarked on industrial action four weeks ago over alleged failure of the state government to address some of their demands which include non implementation of  promotion from 2013.
Other demands he said  were non payment of pensions and gratuity to retirees,  non implementation of the white paper on investigation of the three institutions set up by the state government among others.
The Joint Union  chairman,  Comrade Paul Useini  explained further that the  union has been forced to take the hard but painful decisin because of the state government  stand on their plight.
He said  the union would not have taken this far reaching decision if the government have shown  genuine commitment of  addressing their demands and other challenges faced by the institutions.
Also speaking on the issue, President, Students Union Government,  Comrade  Johnpaul Emmanuel and the Speaker of the Students Parliament,  Emmanuel Ude of College of Agriculture Lafia described the  strike by union of the institutions as a colossal setback to the development of education in the state.
They appealed to the union and the state government to take urgent steps to resolve the impasse.
In a swift reaction, the State Commissioner for Higher Education,  Clement Uhembe  claimed  the state government had been engaging the leadership of the union  with a view  to finding a common grounds for amicable resolution of  the strike.
Meanwhile, a visit to  the campuses of the three tertiary institutions by vanguard revealed  that academic and non academic activities have been completely paralysed as offices and lecture halls were  under lock and key.