 |
|
Governor
Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State
|
The Nigeria Union of
Teachers (NUT) in Kwara State has said primary school teachers in the state
will embark on strike, today, to protest the non-payment of their four months’
salary arrears. Chairman
of the union, Comrade Musa Abubakar, made this known yesterday.
Vanguard report continues:
The
strike will begin just when schools are expected to resume from their first
term holiday.
Abubakar
said the union could no longer guarantee industrial harmony in the state
following the non-payment of their four months’ salary arrears.
He
said the primary school teachers had been loyal and dedicated to duty in spite
of the failure of the government to pay them salaries for months.
He
said: “I want to believe they have tried. If the members of the National
Assembly are not paid for four months, I doubt if you will see anybody in the
red or green chambers.
“I
recall in Oyo State; they were not paid for just two months and some House of
Assembly members did not go to work.
“So,
for us to have worked for four months without pay, I think the teachers have
tried and that is why we told the government that we cannot guarantee any
industrial harmony again.
“We
cannot guarantee any teacher going to class from today to teach with an empty
stomach except the problem is addressed.”
He
explained that the union would start a sit-at-home strike action beginning from
today to press home its demand.
According
to him, workers from other sectors will soon join in the strike action in the
spirit of solidarity.
The
NUT leader criticized the state government for creating a dichotomy between
primary schools teachers and their counterparts in the secondary schools.
He
claimed that a Supreme Court judgment in 2002 had made state governments
responsible for the management and funding of primary schools in the country.
“It
is just unfortunate that a situation like this revolves around primary school
teachers in the country.
“I
want to say without mincing words that if that trend should continue, the
primary school system will soon collapse,” the union leader stated.
Abubakar,
therefore, urged the state government to live up to its responsibilities by
doing the right thing. “Education is the key and the bedrock of our development
particularly at the grassroots.
“If this trend is not
checked, honestly, this country will run into a problem. So I would, therefore,
urge the federal, state, and local governments to ensure that the ugly trend is
checked,” he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment