By; ODEYEMI SAMUEL, Akure
The National Unofficial of Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Comrade Michael Ojo Fanimokun has berated the Governor of Kaduna state, Malam Nasir el-Rufai over what he described as arbitrary sack of teachers.
Comrade Fanimokun who accused the governor of applying militant approach to teachers’ saga during a chat with New Nigerian in Akure said he ought to have explored constitution approach in dealing with such issues.
Rather than embarking on sack, he opined that Governor el-Rufai could have organised an in house training for teachers to upgrade their standard in service delivery.
Comrade Fanimokun who was the immediate past Chairman of NUT in Ondo State stressed the need for the governor to consult stakeholders in the Teaching profession like Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) and NUT before taking what he described as unpopular unilateral approach.
According to him, it is the responsibility of these bodies to advise the governor on issues relating to sacking and conducting examination for teachers since ” the operational policies of teachers are a bit different from that of civil servants”.
He therefore advised the governor to retrace his steps in the case of the teachers’ saga, saying, asking them to re apply is a way of re testing them.
The National NUT Officer however inquired about what will be the mode of the recruitment and on what scale will they be placed to ensure they do not lose the number of years they had put into the service.
Commenting on the efforts of the Governor of Ondo State, Arakurin Odunayo Akeredolu to improve the welfare package for teachers in the state, Fanimokun urged the governor to reduce the discrepancy between the serving and retired teachers by giving them equal treatment.
Since there is no money to pay areas, he said retirees should be placed on pay roll with immediate effect after retirement to enable them enjoy “rest after labour”.
