Strike cripples Lagos public schools

LAGOS State public primary and secondary school pupils, who resumed after the long vacation, were yesterday turned back due to an indefinite strike called by the local branch of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT).

The inability of the union and the state government to reach an agreement at a meeting over the latter’s alleged failure to implement the Teachers’ Salary Structure (TSS), a 27.5 per cent increase in pay earlier agreed upon by the Governors’ Forum, triggered off the strike. The teachers have vowed to stay at home until their demands are met.

Some of the children told The Guardian that they decided to come to the school to verify if, indeed, the teachers would go ahead with the strike.

Some of the teachers, who spoke with The Guardian, also admitted that the union was acting on the directive of its national body, after various attempts to persuade state governors to comply with the implementation of the TSS failed.

Earlier, President of the Union, Michael Alogba Olukoya, who led the delegation of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the union on a courtesy visit to Education Minister, Prof. Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufa’i, had implored the minister to prevail on the states to start the implementation of the new salary structure.

On the 27.5 per cent allowance, Alogba said despite an agreement with the Federal Government on the need to prevail on the state governments to implement the TSS, some states have failed to do so. Alogba told the minister: “We have restrained our state wings from embarking on an unpalatable action because of your earlier intervention and promise. We implore you to call the states concerned to order before the schools reopen, failure of which teachers will down tools. Meanwhile, charity must begin at home. It calls to question, defeating all logic, that even the Federal Government has not paid our teachers in unity schools the 27.5 per cent teachers’ peculiar allowance.”

Other issues raised by the NUT leader included the need to revert teachers of Unity Schools as members of the NUT from the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCN); payment of 27.5 per cent peculiar allowance to teachers in Unity Colleges; regularisation of appointments of casual teachers in the Unity Colleges and the need to sustain the rewards arising from the yearly Presidential Teachers and Schools Awards.

In his reaction, the Chairman of the Lagos Branch of the NUT, Samson Idowu, said the teachers were protesting the non-implementation of their salary increase as promised by the Lagos State government.

His words: “Lagos State has only implemented nine per cent of the 27.5 per cent teachers’ allowance approved since 2008, which 17 states have implemented.”

According to the Secretary of the union, Momodu Braimah, the order for the indefinite strike starting from yesterday was given after a final congress last Thursday.

He said members of the union had no option than to resort to the strike, after several attempts made to broker an agreement with the state government to guard against the strike failed.

He declared: “We have given the government some time to act, but they have turned a deaf ear. So, we have exhausted all peaceful means. There is no going back. We still stand on our grounds of 27.5 per cent or we’ll remain at home. Directives to that effect have been sent out and there would be no cancellation, except the government listens to our demands.”

When The Guardian visited Ikotun Junior High School, Lagos, a member of staff of the school, who wouldn’t want his name in print, affirmed that the school got a directive to sit-at-home indefinitely as from yesterday from the national body of the NUT, followed by a circular. The two-page circular dated September 12, and titled: “Re: Notice of teachers’ strike action from Monday, September 24, 2012 on the directive of NUT national body: An acknowledgement,” was signed by state Chairman, S. K. Idowu and Secretary M. M. Braimoh.

The circular urged teachers in all states of the federation that fail to fully implement the 27/5 per cent increase of Teachers Specific Allowance (TSA) of which Lagos State is one, to embark on sit-at-home strike action as from the next academic session.

It further stated that the decision of the NEC of NUT was adopted unanimously by the State Wing Executive Council (SWEC) of NUT Lagos State wing, at its statutory meeting of August 29, 2012.

The statement declared: “We have reached the upper limit of our members’ endurance level since April 2010. We cannot endure any longer. The leadership of NUT, Lagos State wing says no to anything other than full payment of 27.5 TSA to teachers of Lagos State. Afterall what is the financial implication of the full implementation that is not achievable?”

However, Government Technical College, Ikotun, was under lock and key, while the school gate of Okota High School, Ago-Okota, was open with no sign of students. Also at Ikeja Junior and Senior High Schools, the security man on duty said students who turned up for school in the morning were sent home because the teachers did not resume for work because of the strike action.

Chairman of the Alimosho (Lagos) branch of the NUT, Claudius Sofoluwe, told journalists that the strike was total and was never called off as being reported in the media.

He said in 2008/2009, the state government reached an agreement to pay teachers the new 27.5 per cent TSS and that government paid the full rate for 13 months, only for it to back out of the agreement.

He said: “In February, 2011, government stopped paying the money. We complained and they promised to begin implementation by April 2011. They started paying 9.2 per cent and promised that they would pay the full rate from January 2012. Till now, nothing has been done.”


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