At least 300 students from different departments of the Technical Vocational Education Training Institute at Nimba University in Sanniquellie City, Nimba County gathered in their numbers to call for the immediate removal of Mr. Joseph P.D. Gehygon, the Director of the T-VET program.
In the early morning hours of Tuesday, June 25, 2024, the T-VET students of the institution besieged the entry of the University campus through protest action in demand for salary increments for their teachers, adequate budgetary support, employment of additional qualified teachers, provision of practical equipment and facilities for the students and creation of internship opportunities for possible Job employment upon graduation.
According to Abraham Mondolo, the T-VET department president and Head of the protesting students said “We are tired of the behavior of our department leadership and as I speak to you, three of our instructors have resigned because of no salary and some have threatened to resign in the coming days ” the president noted. He continued” The NU campus is a no-go zone beginning today and moving forward if our demands are not addressed appropriately.”
The Technical Vocational Education Training Institute (T-VET) is a department under Nimba University that offers Plumbing, Electricity, General Construction, and other certificate programs at the institution. The department has since been abandoned by the Nimba University leadership in terms of budgetary allotment and low compensation to employees leading to the recent resignation of three of its instructors; Mr. Augustine Malemon, Mr. Obed, and Rev.
Wilmont Talmon. The aggrieved students further stressed that, if the Department Director, Mr. Joseph P. D. Gehygon is not removed as Head of the Department, there will be no academic activities within the department.
Meanwhile, the protesting students were seen parading the campus and chanting slogans that said, “No T-VET, no NU”. The protest comes barely two weeks after the departure of the University President, Dr. Jesse Noah Mongrue to the United States of America for his family visit.
However, calm has been restored on the Nimba University campus as the NU’s Administration is working to address the plats of the protesters.
