By Tracy Moses
Following the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Abia State Chapter’s threat of an indefinite strike slated to begin on Thursday, Thursday over unpaid allowances, Governor Alex Otti has directed the State Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Mr. Goodluck Ubochi, to engage with the union’s leadership to resolve their concerns.
The state government, in a statement issued on Wednesday, stressed that a strike is not necessary, as there are peaceful avenues to address the teachers’ grievances.
The statement was made by the Commissioner for Information, Prince Okey Kanu, who briefed journalists in Umuahia, the state capital.
Kanu said, “There is this news that has been trending on social media about an impending strike by Abia teachers. Yes, we have a section of teachers who are not happy with certain issues concerning their remuneration, owing partly to some differentials between the salaries of primary school teachers and their counterparts in the junior secondary schools.”
He further regretted the issue being amplified, potentially by opposition groups, saying, “The good news is that the government is paying salaries to Abia workers and pensioners regularly and is also among the first to implement the N70,000 new national minimum wage policy.”
On the administration’s efforts to support teachers, Kanu said that as part of the incentive package for teachers who had previously left the classroom for other civil service roles due to non-payment of salaries, the state government had introduced special compensation packages.
Additionally, the government has increased the retirement age for teachers from 60 to 65 years, noting that these measures were intended to encourage teachers to return to the classroom and improve the education sector.
“The Executive Council came up with the idea of paying some discriminatory compensation packages to such teachers. It didn’t stop at that; it also increased the retirement age from 60 to 65 years. All these were intentional policies aimed at achieving a purpose: to encourage and motivate the teachers and to encourage those who left the classroom to civil service to go back when it appeared we were lacking teachers,” Kanu explained.
The Commissioner also addressed the spread of misinformation, particularly on social media.
He accused opposition groups of circulating false claims to tarnish the governor’s reputation.
According to him, “The opposition has resorted to saying things the governor never said just to malign and misrepresent him. They should be mindful of the Cyber Crime Act, which may be invoked on their excesses.”
The Commissioner continued, “They have resorted to saying things that would pitch the federal government or certain ethnic nationalities in the country against the governor and his administration. More often than not, we have chosen to ignore them in their macabre dance and pastime as harbingers of fake news.”
However, Kanu reiterated the government’s openness to constructive criticism but strongly denounced the spread of false information. “This administration is not averse to constructive criticism. What this government frowns at, and what all right-thinking and patriotic Abians should frown at, is the recourse to fake news.
“Let it be put on record that at the outset of this administration, the governor promised to bring hope and help to Abians. In the last 23 months, this administration has given Abians more than hope. It has substantially delivered on a new Abia. While the state government may not be where it desires to be, it is important to note that in just 23 months, a lot has been achieved, and there is still much more to be done given the administration’s commitment.”
Kanu described the opposition camp as a frustrated lot, noting that “The opposition is so piqued that what they couldn’t do in 24 years, this administration has done in 23 months.”