Strike: FG begs teachers

[bamalli]

Strike: FG begs teachers 
 
THE Federal Government and the National Economic Council (NEC) pleaded, yesterday, with the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) whose members are on nationwide strike for the third week running to call it off and go into dialogue with the 36 state governments.
The National Examinations Council (NECO) which had scheduled the Common Entrance examination into the Unity Schools for tomorrow, yesterday suspended it on the strength of the teachers' strike.

Labour Minister, Dr. Muhammad Lawal, in Ilorin spoke of government's  willingness to negotiate with teachers in its Unity Schools but asked the NUT to suspend the strike to create a condusive  condition  for negotiation with the other tiers of government.

Government, he said, would engage the teachers at the various Unity Schools with a view to finding a solution to this problem, saying: "So much is being lost.  The Federal Government is worried, it is concerned, many state governments are  ready and willing to negotiate with the various unions."

The minister who was at the Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies said: "We believe that it is not correct  for the Federal Government to  set salaries and allowances for all teachers  in Nigeria because the states are not equally endowed in terms of resources."

Dr. Lawal appealed to the  Nigeria Union of Teachers to suspend the strike and enter into negotiation with the union to negotiate with their employers at the state and local government levels.

He said: "I am appealing to them in the interest of the pupils, parents, most of them are parents, they should call off the strike.  Let's go back to the  classrooms so that we have an enabling environment.

You don't discuss or negotiate under tension. Once the strike is called off, tension will  be reduced, then there will be rational thinking, meanwhile our pupils will go back to school and then we would be able to discuss, the various states will discuss, the Federal Government will discuss."

The Labour Minister who was in Ilorin, Kwara State for a stakeholders' meeting on Labour Administration and Employment Generation in Nigeria jointly organised for members of the House of Representatives Committee on Labour, Organised Labour and the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association promised that the Mnistry of Labour would encourage the state governors to negotiate with the NUT.

Dr. Hassan Lawal said the NUT was "fully aware that there are few Unity Schools and they are not  more than five per cent" of school population.

The minister said government was also aware that the teachers in the Unity Schools were not members of the NUT but members of the Senior Staff Civil Servants Association.

Power emergency put on hold

And briefing State House correspondents at the end of a meeting of NEC, Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State said negotiations could not be done under compulsion.

He also said the planned declaration of a state of emergency in the power sector would be put on hold until members of the state Houses of Assembly and the National Assembly approved financing of the proposed power sector.

According to the governor, although the issue of the teachers strike was not originally on the agenda of yesterday's meeting, members of the Council had to discuss it because of the importance attached to education.

Dr Aliyu, a former Vice Chairman of the NUT, said it was a misnomer for the NUT to issue an ultimatum to the Federal Government which he said had no members of the union in its employ as teachers in the Unity Schools and similar institutions are civil servants.

The Niger State governor who was flanked by Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State; Governor of the Central Bank, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo; and Minister of Finance, Dr. Shamsudeen Usman, said the state governments could not be compelled to pay a unified salary structure because their resources were not the same.

On the planned declaration of a state of emergency in the power sector, Governor Aliyu said all issues must be put in place before it was made.

"On the issue of the power sector, we also look at the contribution of what the state will do and urged the governors to also discuss it with the state Assembly and we believe that the Federal Government will also discuss also with the National Assembly before the deductions are made. So those who are thinking that it is going to be a one way traffic know we are going to ensure that all the laws and all the book keeping are done properly and nobody is shortchanged and nobody is cheated.   

"You don't declare emergency when you don't put the ingredient of declaration in place so that is what we want to put in place. 

Declaration could be a statement but when you declare, you want to ensure that you have done the right thing.

To some of us, it is a straightforward thing because some of us have already reported to our assemblies that this is going to happen. But we needed something as a backup so that nobody will say that we just sat down and agreed with the Federal Government to start diverting money.

There are laws in place so whether we are able to finish now but if not the declaration can wait," he said.     

Other decisions taken by the NEC include the need for stakeholders to focus on health, education and water supply in the quest to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the year 2015.

NECO postpones entrance exam


The National Examinations Council (NECO) has called off the Common Entrance Examination scheduled for tomorrow following the continuation of the Nigeria Union of Teachers' (NUT) industrial action.

The postponement was announced yesterday at a press conference in Abuja by the Registrar of

NECO, Professor Promise Okpala.
Professor Okpala said the examination could not hold on the scheduled date because there will be no teacher to conduct and monitor the exercise.

A new date has not been fixed yet for the examination.
He said, "The situation on ground makes it necessary to inform Nigerians that the examination is being postponed till further notice."

Professor Okpala stated that a new date would be announced, adding that the council would give ample time to the pupils to get ready for the examination.

He also added  that the Council would still accommodate additional registrations for schools who failed to meet up with the deadline.

On the security of the question papers, which is subject to leakage due to the postponement, he assured that adequate machinery has been deployed to secure them.

He said; "the question papers are the most sensitive things we are conscious to watch. We have enough machinery and manpower to protect these papers from leakages to ensure we conduct a credible examination and to ensure our image does not go down the drain".

It would be recalled that NECO had last month, called off its Senior Secondary School Examination, which had already began as a result of the NUT strike.

From: Vanguard.

[Dan-Borno]

the plight of the nigerian teacher is turning from bad
to worst.  here in maiduguri, the striking teachers have
announced that they are going to resort to God as they
organize a prayer session on the eid ground of police
college, maiduguri.

I dont know what is happening, government is still adamant
on the issue of this teachers.  har yanzu ina ganin malam
osite (who taught me in primary school) riding an old
bicycle - what is happening naija?