NUT To Governors: Don’t Divert Bailout Fund

Ikpe J. Obong Secretary-General

Teachers, under the auspices of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), yesterday advised governors not to divert the bailout funds for workers but ensure that such funds are used to pay salary arrears. The NUT expressed concern about the continuous delay in the payment of teachers’ salary by many states despite President Muhammadu Buhari’s intervention, aimed at helping cash-strapped states in paying arrears of salaries which they owe workers. Besides, the union urged the Federal Government to intensify efforts in the fight against the Boko Haram sect and further secure schools in the Northeast, the region most affected by insurgency.

Secretary-General Ikpe J. Obong said in a statement issued in Abuja:  “The Nigeria Union of Teachers has been following recent developments in the education sector in the country.

The Nation report continues:
“As an organization saddled with the responsibility of protecting the rights and welfare of teachers as well as promoting and advancing the course of education and the teaching profession in Nigeria, the NUT particularly appraised the state of affairs in the primary and secondary education sub-sector with a view to highlighting our concerns for the attention of all tiers of government.

“We commend the concerns so far showed by President Buhari and we believe Mr. President is committed to repositioning the education sector for the benefit of the citizenry and the development of the nation.

“The NUT is concerned about continuous delay in the payment of teachers’ salary by a number of state governments despite the intervention of President Buhari with bailout funds provided to help them pay arrears of salaries to workers in the affected states.

“While the non-payment of the backlog of salaries and other entitlements owed teachers has caused untold hardship and pain to the affected teachers and their dependents, it is even more disturbing to note that the bailout funds for some states are reported to have being seized by banks due to debts owed by the state governments.

“This development to say the least, undermine the commendable efforts made by President Buhari to address the precarious issue. The NUT therefore calls on the affected states to ensure that funds are not diverted but used for the payment of the salary arrears without further delay.

“Also of concern to the NUT is the reported threat by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) to withhold the results of candidates who wrote the May/June 2015 WESSCE in 19 states due to non-payment of registration fees of over N4 billion by the state governments.

“It is important to state here that the policy of the states to take responsibility of the payment of the WASC Examination fees is commendable, as it was meant to lessen the financial burden on parents and guardians.

“However, the failure of the debtor – states to fulfill their pledge to WAEC smacks of the characteristic lip service and political grandstanding of governments to public education, which is key to the transformation and future well-being of the Nigerian children.

“Certainly, this unwholesome development portends danger to the future and educational prospects of the candidates and we demand that the issue be timely resolved by the affected states to ensure prompt release of the result to the candidates.

“Government should not toy with the future of our children on the altar of politics. If they are not sincere and committed to paying the exam fees to their students, they should stop the grandstanding and allow parents to take the destiny of their children in their hands.

“Furthermore, the NUT observed with dismay the recent protests by parents and candidates seeking admission into higher institutions over the alleged increase in the Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB) cut-off marks by some universities as against the decision of the 2015 combined policy meeting on admission that pegged the cut-off marks at 180 for universities and 150 for other tertiary institutions such as polytechnics and colleges of education.

“The protest was also directed at the policy of JAMB assigning candidates of universities with surplus applicants for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) to other Universities with lower number of applicants than their capacities attracted the anger of the protesters.

“Although, the policy of JAMB is well intended to reduce waste and to provide the candidates space in institutions other than their first choice, it is our view that the policy failed to take into account the right of the candidate to choose his/her institution of learning.

“It is therefore our submission that in order to draw a nexus between the laudable objective of JAMB and the desire of the candidates to choose their institutions, JAMB should reconsider the position of a second choice University for all candidates.

“We wish to use this opportunity to once again draw the attention of the Federal Government to the need for the retirement age of primary and secondary school teachers to be raised from 60-65 years as in the case of Judges and Tertiary school Teachers.

“This has become imperative considering the alarming rate of teachers’ retirement without a corresponding recruitment which has resulted to acute lack of teachers experienced by states across the country.

“A case in point is the reported policy of Katsina State government to re-engage retired teachers to fill existing vacancies in the primary and secondary education sub-sector in the state.

“While this stop-gap approach employed by Katsina State is commendable as it would provide temporary solution to the problem in the short-run, it cannot be seen to be a preferred and enduring solution to the deplorable issue of teachers is less cost effective as it involves payment of both monthly pension and the salary for the contract appointment.

“Government should therefore consider as a matter of necessity the raising of teachers retirement age from 60 to 65 years in order to further benefit from the experience of the teachers as well as to address the man power needs in the school system.

“The NUT will not fail to reiterate its call on the Federal Government to intensify its efforts in the fight against insurgency, particularly in the Northeast of the country.

“We urge the administration of President Buhari to do more in securing our institutions of learning to ensure safe environment for effective education delivery in the country.”