Follow Us on Google
From Scholastica Onyeka, Makurdi
The Nigeria Union of Teachers, (NUT), Benue State chapter has protested what they called the removal of their professional entitlements from the state’s payroll by the Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia led administration.
The state chairman, Mr Levi Akuma, in a chat with newsmen on Tuesday, lamented that the state government has removed their promotion, learning society and examination allowances which are the legitimate rights of teachers.
While he also noted that some of their members have been removed on the grounds that they are ghosts, Akuma urged the Governor Hyacinth Alia led administration to verify their facts well before embarking on such actions as his members are willing to avail themselves for audit and those who are due for retirement are ready to proceed on same.
The NUT chairman who noted that the union fought for the promotion of its members, said it has been a law in the service that a junior grade level staff should be promoted after two years while the senior grade level, are promoted after three years before another promotion.
“I do not know why people like to jump issues like that. Our complaint is that, we fought for our promotion. It is a law in the civil service that if you stay on a particular grade level for two years as a junior worker, then the next year, you will be promoted.
“On the senior grade level, it is three years before you will be promoted but we have stay up to 17 to 18 years and there was no promotion. We continue to write circulars to Government for the government to give us letters of promotion and they gave us letters in 2021.
“In 2022, February, government implemented the promotion. Then we discovered that we have 27.5 percent which the union also fought for. Teachers were demanding for a Teachers’ Service Structure, (TSS). We did not get that structure but later Northern Governors Forum jointly agreed to give that percent. It was implemented in Benue in 2010 and we have been collecting that up till today. It was just in the month of May and June that we were recently paid.
“Then we discovered this on our payroll, they removed the promotion, learning society and examination allowances. Then we complained that it is not correct, we are entitled to this. These are professional allowances and they are not suppose to take it.
“We learnt that over 2500 teachers have been taken away from our payroll. Some on grounds that they are ghost workers and others in the aspect that they were due for retirement and did not retire. So we said let government give us circular to the five years so that those who didn’t fall within that, should go while those who are there, should remain.
“They have no power to force you to stay on the payroll. If your days are numbered in the service, you will go and give way for another person to come in.
“There was a time, the Attorney-General of the State wrote that they should stop retiring teachers based on the new edit of Federal government harmonizing teachers retirement age to 65 years. When that came, the state government did not domesticate it on time.
“It was in May last year, that it was domesticated and the bill and gazetted. So, we are only waiting for the circular to that effect. And up till now, the circular has not come and some teachers are saying that they have been retired.
“So, we said no that government should reverse that decision because promotion is legal and we have taken it up to a year before this administration came in. It is not politics, you can’t do politics there. The time of politicking has gone even we workers are working with a new government and the governor is not aware but we believe that when this Government is stable, he will quickly solve it,” he said.
Akuma who noted that teachers are owed arrears of 16 months by the immediate past administration said “The salary issue the months are many. Under the Ortom government , we were not paid from February to December 2017.
“In 2021 December, we were not paid, we are waiting for it. Some were paid, some were not. In January this year, 10 Local Governments were paid leaving 13 LGs. Then from February to April, we were not paid the were are receiving May and June. That was how our payments staggered in. Approximately, we are owed more than 16 months., he said.
