Teachers to Embark On Strike in 18 States

NUT to Embark On Strike in 18 States

The Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) Thursday announced its determination to embark on industrial action in 18 states of the federation over an alleged refusal of such states to honour the agreement they had with the union since 2008.

The states include Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Ebonyi States.

NUT Chairman, Mr. Olukoya Micheal, told journalists yesterday after NUT's meeting with the Senate Committee on Education, that since 2008, governments and stakeholders in education sector had been dribbling teachers by asking them to be patient, without any sense of commitment.

"Teachers have been pushed to the wall," he said, insisting that the only available option for teachers now is to embark on indefinite strike action.

He urged President Goodluck Jonathan and the governors to learn to respond to the plight of teachers if they want progress in education sector of the country, threatening that the strike action could only be ended by the federal government.

In his response, the Minister of State for Education, Ezenwo Wike, who was present at the meeting, expressed federal government's appeal to the affected state governors to pay teachers their outstanding wages, recalling how several letters had been written to such governors.

He urged them to comply with the agreement with a view to averting industrial action in the past.

On the allegation by the NUT boss that the federal Ministry of Education was also owing teachers in Federal Government Colleges 27.5 per cent pay rise agreement it reached with the union, the minister said the ministry had no document to that effect, but promised to search it out and equally make recommendations on it.

Meanwhile, Chairman, Senate Committee on Education, Senator Uche Chukwumerije, tasked the minister to ensure that agreements reached between NUT and various governments are implemented, saying reneging on agreements usually results in suspicion and distrust.

He also advised the state governments involved to avert the proposed strike action, noting that education is the bedrock of development in any nation.