The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) has called on the Federal Government to, without further delay, pay the members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) their eight-month salaries that were withheld for the period of their last industrial action.
The union also urged the government at all levels to stop paying lip service to the education sector from primary to tertiary levels.
The National Secretary General of NUT, Dr Mike Ene, made the call in an exclusive interview with the Nigerian Tribune.
According to him, the federal government cannot continue to behave as if ASUU members just woke up and went on industrial action during the period they did, if not because they had no better option to press home their demands.
He urged the federal government not to attach any condition to the release of the salaries to the university teachers, arguing that no work, no pay policy, is totally unknown to labour law globally and Nigeria cannot be exempted.
Ene, while also calling on all the state governments that owe their primary and secondary school teachers several months’ salaries to pay up before the end of 2023, said, “Teachers deserve a decent life.”
According to him, prices of goods and services have gone beyond the reach of most families in the country, and teachers whose salaries are not much should not be denied payment again.
He argued that it is absolutely disturbing and uncalled for that the government is only quick to enter into an agreement and sign it when it actually knows it would not honour such an agreement.
He said the attitude of the government and political class would continue to slow down the progress of the country.
He said the education sector deserves the utmost attention and funding priority from the government at all levels, so whatever happens to the sector, good or bad, will certainly rub off on every other sector of the economy.
He said, “That is why we’re imploring the government at all levels to wake up to their responsibilities and fund education well in the coming year.”
Ene, however, disclosed that up to 6,000 teachers in public schools nationwide would be retiring from active service at the end of this year, while the government is making efforts to replace only about 1,000 of them.
He said the government should not wait for the consequences of the acute shortage of teachers to overwhelm Nigerian public schools before taking meaningful steps to replace them.
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