The teachers’ Union in Imo State has said that primary and secondary schools teachers in the state will not resume classes even if government reopen schools in the state.
The declaration was made by the chairman of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Imo state Wing, Philip Nwanshi during an interaction with journalists in Owerri.
He said the reason was because the state government was yet to fulfill promises and agreements made to teachers in the state regarding their salaries.
According to Nwanshi, during a meeting with Governor Hope Uzodimma months ago, he promised to clear arrears of salaries owed to teachers, lamenting that up till the first week of September, salaries of about 2000 teachers have not been paid since March (seven months).
“In Ngor Okpala LGA, no primary school teacher has received his salaries up to date since March this year. In Owerri West and other LGAs also, various numbers of teachers are yet to receive their salaries.
“There is no way you can tell me that what is holding their salaries is BVN and the banks. We cannot believe that. You cannot tell me that the papers of all the teachers in Ngor Okpala are defective”, the NUT boss said.
He stressed that there was no way teachers in the state would resume classes hungry, without being paid, even if the government reopens schools across the state.
He said, “What we’re saying is that if all our teachers do not get their salaries up to date and if the union does not get its check-off dues, there is no possibility of schools reopening in Imo State.
“The union has not been running since March and government is deducting the check off dues and still not remitting same to the union. And if we don’t react, our members will think we have sold out on them. They’ll think we’ve compromised.
“We have romanced with the government by doing whatever they asked us to do. They brought forms and asked us to help them fill and we employed workers to make sure those forms were filled by those the government feels have problems. Yet nothing has been done about the arrears of salaries.”
He called on the state government to direct the payment of teachers in the state because, “Most of our teachers are dying in hunger. When somebody that has not been paid since March it means invariably you have sacked that person.
“But, I want to encourage those teachers that nobody can sack them. They should continue to be patience”.
