Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa

In 2012 when Governor Henry Seriake Dickson assumed office, one of the giant steps he took which was applauded so well was the declaration of state of emergency in the education sector to correct the rot which many Bayelsans agreed had been left unattended to over the years.

Dickson took the bull by the born and started rebuilding the education sector from the scratch, erecting critical infrastructure and formulating policies that would reset the educational system in the state. And between 2012 and 2016, he got accolades and commendations from even critics for the huge investment the administration was devoting to the educational sector which changed the narrative from years of setbacks and came tops in national examinations.

However the financial instability that hit Nigeria in late 2015 became evident in 2016 when Nigeria finally entered recession and the Dickson government struggled to meet its financial obligations to civil servants in the state. The problem of the state government became compounded as the eight local government councils saddled with the payment of salaries of primary school teachers ran into troubled waters.

At the initial stage, Dickson concerned with the plight of the teachers gave his approval through the Ministry of Local Government for the state government to augment the salaries of local government workers including primary school teachers. But as the recession bit harder in 2017 the state government already pressed for payment of salaries of its own work force could no longer carry the burden of the councils and had to stop.

Criticism trailed the decision to hands off from the payment of primary school teachers and the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) in the eight local councils actually protested and called on the state government to rescind its decision to hands off the payment of primary school teachers. The state government is not averse to take off the responsibility of payment of teachers but it would do so on the condition that far reaching reforms would need to be undertaken in the local councils to weed out ‘ghost teachers’ since salaries of teachers gulped more than half of the total wage bill.

CURRENT STAND-OFF

Investigations revealed that the current stand-off by the teachers against the government is about salary arrears of teachers both in the secondary and the primary school. A teacher who identified himself as Ebiowei said salaries are the crux of the matter as teachers are suffering in Bayelsa. According to him the state government showed its insensitivity to the welfare of teachers with what he called the skewed policies of the government which he insists places premium of the payment of civil servants and political appointees.

When the teachers downed tools in September 2017, they had declared that they would not suspend the strike until the state government addressed their plight. The NUT kicked against the payment of their salaries by local councils stating that the state government must accept the responsibility to ensure the payment of their salaries.

Mr. Koin a member of the NUT in Kolokuma/Opokuma LGA said the teachers have been involved in talks with the state government since 2013 due to the neglect of primary school teachers in the state.

As at the time of the strike in 2017, 10 months salaries were owed and the negotiation to pay one month and the explanation by the Commissioner for Local Government, Mrs. Agatha Goma though initially resisted was accepted.

Related News

The teachers had expected that the payment of the last tranche of the Paris Club money would be used to clear a substantial part of the arrears of the salaries. However, the decision reached by the government and the labour unions that one and half months salaries would be paid was rejected  by the NUT as it called on its members to commence strike from Monday January 8.

The NUT chairman, Mr. Kalama Donpre in an interview said the current industrial action is justified as teachers are not taken seriously in the state.

“Secondary and primary school teachers are on strike because of non-resolution of outstanding issues. N18,000 minimum wages was not paid to teachers; in annual increment, teachers were left out; acute shortage of teachers has not been addressed, promotion of teachers has not been implemented. The government has no plan to augment or ensure payment of teachers’ salaries.”

On the argument that the local government councils are responsible for the payment of primary school teachers, Donpre punctured the claims noting that the council chairmen were appointed by the governor as caretaker chairmen which he said places the control of the councils with the executive.

He argued: “The state government said it is the responsibility of the local government to pay primary school teachers but the question is does the local government have autonomy. Are the caretaker chairmen not appointed by the governor for the eight local government councils? There is no autonomy of local government in Bayelsa. The local government in Bayelsa is not autonomous. Why is there JAAC? They meet in JAAC which is controlled by the local government. So the primary schools are under the state. There is a counterpart funding which the state government is expected to pay.”

Old rot

The teachers verification that took place in the eight local government councils was quite revealing. It confirmed that the local councils are cesspit of payroll fraud. Not only are there ghost teachers but ghost schools also exist. Over the years the local councils have been breeding ground to recruit unqualified teachers and people without any formal training into primary schools.

For Dickson the people might rain thunder and storm but he maintained that it is only a complete sanitisation of the local councils which would largely affect the primary schools that is the first step to restore the pride of teachers.

Sources close to government said the sanitation process in reforms would ensure that injection of funds to offset primary school teachers salaries do not end up with those that did not earn it.

Dickson in a recent interview said his administration is determined to continue with the revolution in the education sector and would take over the payment of primary school teachers because lack of salaries is making the teachers to complain and it is affecting the sector.

The Education Report learnt that Governor Dickson met with the national leadership of NUT last Friday and some of the issues in contention were resolved.