Follow Us on Google
• We’ll resist imposition of candidates in 2019, 2020 –Coalition
From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
Primary school teachers in Bayelsa State have declared that the industrial action embarked upon, due to non-payment of salaries, will not end until the government addresses their plight.
Governor Seriake Dickson had lamented the plight of primary school teachers when he disclosed that the state government is willing to take over responsibility of payment of salaries on the condition that ghost workers are weeded out.
The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) had kicked against the payment of their salaries by the local councils, when they urged the state government to accept responsibility, in order to ensure prompt payment of salaries.
When Daily Sun visited some of the primary schools in Yenagoa and Ogbia local government areas, the gates were locked, in compliance with the state’s NUT directive, that primacy school teachers should remain at home until the state government addressed their plight.
The NUT, which said it has been involved in talks with the government since 2013, lamented the neglect of primary school teachers in the state.
NUT Chairman in Kolokuma/Opokuma council, Koin Dinepre, said teachers would stay at home until their plight was addressed.
According to him, payment of one month salary out of 10 months owed them would not compel them to call off the strike.
Commissioner for Education and his counterpart in the Ministry of Local Government, Markson Fefegha and Mrs Agatha Goma, respectively, have appealed to the teachers to call off the strike.
They insisted that councils and not the state government, have the responsibility to cater for primary school teachers and primary education.
Meanwhile, stakeholders in the state have vowed to resist any attempt by political parties to impose candidates in the 2019 and 2020 governorship elections.
The stakeholders, in a coalition named Campaign for Development and Democracy in Bayelsa state (CDDB), comprising notable politicians, civil servants, students, market women and civil liberties groups, said they would mobilise ordinary Bayelsans to reject imposition of candidates. CDDB Coordinator, Dr. Konrad Welsond, disclosed that structures have been set up in the eight local government areas to agitate for social justice, development and good governance through participatory democracy.
Speaking at a Town Hall meeting, after the official opening of the CDDB Yenagoa Secretariat, the coalition appealed to voters to join forces with them to end ‘godfatherism’ in Bayelsa politics
Insisting that the masses have the power to lead a revolution against the elite, the group noted that it is within the power of stakeholders to ensure good governance.
Also, Chief Prince Abeki blamed the people for neglecting their power and allowing selfish politicians to underdevelope the state.
Abeki said moneybags have jeopardised the state’s development by deceiving the people through alleged buying of votes and other inducements.
His words: “The time has come for the people to say no by choosing their credible and selfless leaders.
“The move by CDDB to sensitise the people and inaugurate chapters round the state is the foundation for a new Bayelsa.
“The people must have a re-think about all that we have lost and how we need to recover all. We have to change the narratives. We have caught the vision and we have the confidence to achieve our dreams.”
Another stakeholder, Mr. Fred Dimieari alleged inducements and money politics as major reasons Bayelsans have mortgaged the future of the state.
He pointed out that the masses should blame themselves for the state of affairs in Bayelsa, and also alleged that their actions and inactions led to the collapse of major institutions in Bayelsa and called on them to reverse the trend.
“The message is simply partnering CDDB because of its mission of revolution in all the sectors of the state…”
The fault has been identified, the blames have been taken by all and the time to act is now. We have found ourselves in a deep forest, nobody is exempted because we all caused it and we are facing it. There is hardly any institution of government that is working in the state, and it is time to get our way out,’’ he said.
