By Orowo Victoria Ojieh
The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Akwa Ibom State wing has declared an indefinite strike following the failure of the government to meet many of their demands.
The strike took effect from midnight on Tuesday, March 15 The Trumpet gathered.
In a statement signed by the Senior State Secretary of the union, Comrade Victor O. Amirize, the NUT, therefore, ordered all primary and secondary school teachers in public schools to embark on industrial action.
The decision was taken after all avenues for negotiation and amicable resolutions failed on the part of the state government.
According to Amirize, the government could not resolve the demands of the teachers after 21 working days and the subsequent seven-day ultimatum given to the government by the union.
The union added that the government’s promise to pay a one-year leave grant on compassionate grounds and make complete payment of one-month minimum wage arrears to primary school teachers was also not be actualised.
Their demands include the refund of seven and a half per cent contributory pension to primary school teachers, payment of gratuity/harmonisation of pension to retired teachers, payment of 2013 to 2021 leave grant to primary school teachers, payment of promotion arrears for six years, 2011 to 2016 to primary school teachers, the release of results of the 2017, 2018 promotion exercise conducted by SUBEB, immediate commencement of 2019, 2020, 2021 promotion exercise and appointment of teachers as permanent secretaries.
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They are also requesting that the Akwa Ibom State Government Teachers Amnesty programme should be reopened to cover the teachers that were cut off during the last amnesty programme, the promotion result of teachers who attended the last promotion exercise in 2020 should be released without recourse to pass in the administrative professional officer compulsory examination (APOCE) as this was not a requirement at the point of the interview.
However, the union appealed to parents, pupils, students and the general public for understanding, adding that the government’s insensitivity to teachers’ conditions has forced them to this point.
