14th February, 2017
of Bayelsa State
The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Bayelsa chapter on Tuesday said it had suspended the planned sit-at-home strike after meeting with Gov. Seriake Dickson.
Mr Bokolo Tonworio, the NUT Chairman, Bayelsa chapter, in Yenagoa said that the decision was taken after a meeting with the governor and members of the State assembly.
The chairman said that the union had appealed to the Bayelsa governor to pay the outstanding salaries of primary school teachers in the state.
Tonworio said that the members urged the governor to take responsibility for the welfare of teachers including regularly paying their salaries, adding that Seriake accepted their plea.
He said that it was unconstitutional for any state government to allow only the local government to decide the fate of teachers.
According to him, teachers like other workers in the state have been thrown into hardship following the non-payment of about six months salaries owed them by the government.
He said that the primary school education remained the bedrock of education and appealed to the state not to destroy the foundation.
“In our case in Bayelsa, the local councils lack or are already showing lack of capacity to pay their workers and insisting that local council pays them will not be possible.
“It means there is no future, no hope, and that the case of primary school teachers in Bayelsa becomes a helpless situation as it is the first in the history of the state.
“The governor has finally agreed to take responsibility of the primary school and to pay the remaining salaries owed us,” he said.
Tonworio urged teachers to report to their duties as plans for the strike had been put off, saying that their outstanding salary arrears would soon be paid.