By Damola Ogundimu
As the strike embarked upon by primary and secondary school teachers enter the fourth week, the teachers have turned to God in prayers to soften the hard stance of the federal government over their request.
Their request is the implementation of the Teachers Salary Scale structure for teachers in the primary and secondary schools nationwide.
Umbrella union of the teachers, the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Tuesday, called for prayers to make the government implement their demand. In Lagos State, the teachers were seen clad in white clothes, praying fervently for God to intervene in their situation.
When P.M.News visited Ikeja Local Government Area of the state, the teachers, who were in two groups, Muslims and Christians, were seen praying to God and singing at the top of their voices along Obafemi Awolowo Way.
The NUT Chairman in Ikeja, Mr. Akintoye Hassan, told P.M.News that despite the demand for the TSS being a long standing issue, the federal government has inexplicably refused to issue the enabling circular to implement it. He said the agitation for the TSS dates back to 1992 when they reached an agreement with the federal government over the issue.
He described government’s present stand as insensitive. “We have set today (Thursday) apart for prayers to God to come to our aid. It’s a unified action. Prayers are going on in all the 774 local governments, and by tomorrow (today), we are embarking on a street protest in collaboration with civil society groups.
“By 10 a.m. tomorrow (today) we are converging on the SUBEB headquarters in Maryland, Ikeja, from where we will move to the streets in protest,” he disclosed.
Also, many parents and groups have joined the teachers to condemn the government for not appreciating teachers and meeting their demand.
“The struggle for enhancement of teachers’ salary in the country is a task that must be accomplished. It is a shame that the present administration of President Umar Musa Yar’Auda is adamant in this regard.
“This attitude is borne out of the fact that most top government funtionaries in the country prefer schools outside Nigeria for the education of their children and so knew little or nothing about the state of public education in the country. They care less about the problems in the public schools,” he added.
Jude Obiehi
24 July 2008 16:54Ebi lo ma le yin pada si class! Make una better go beg senior teacher Ya adua, e go tell una say na same proffession una dey before Obj settle am…
una go see pepper! ebi lo ma ko yin logbon, se una still dey tranga… ebi ooooooooooooooooooo!
Godson
24 July 2008 19:09teachers should earn more than paliamentarians, that is why the educational sector is in shambo
allan b.dodondawa
24 July 2008 19:54JUDE OBIEHI,you are comically hillarious.since yaradua got there he had forgotten ever touch ed chalk in his life.you are just fooling yourself if you pretend that teachers live on those meagre salary.majority of them got another mean to support themselve.,even with that it is not an excuse for this guy not to yield to teachers cry for help.here in europe teachers and cops are treated very well.nigerian teacher are very hard working perhap yaradua belief their reward is in heaven
Aijay
25 July 2008 12:08Senior Teacher has become a “botta president” so what do you expect. We need to find out how many of the people in charge have their kids in public schools. It is only then that we can tell if ever the government will be willing to listen to these teachers.
ak
25 July 2008 15:30i support nigerian teachers.Let them embark on what ever action they plan.As for the federal government,they are just piling up their problems.They should be wise enough to listen to the pleas of this teachers before things get out of hands.