The governor of Borno State, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, assured the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, on Wednesday that he would not fire the 11, 790 untrained teachers working in the state.
When labour representatives visited Zulum, they were led by Comrade Yusuf Inuwa, the NLC Chairman in Borno State.
The officials commended the governor for his dedication to the welfare of workers during the meeting and also brought up other issues, such as the payment of promotion benefits.
Zulum went on to say during the meeting that he had approved paying the Local Education Authority's, LEA's, 5, 439 teachers who passed the competency exam the N30,000 minimum wage.
The governor told the NLC that since the assessment committee had found that out of 11, 790 unqualified teachers, there are 7,975 teachers representing 46.3% who are trainable, the state will soon support the first batch of 1,000 to further their education through a special in-service facility that would enable the teachers to go back to tertiary schools as full-time students while getting their monthly salaries.
Zulum said, however, that the 7,975 unqualified teachers would only be enlisted for minimum wage after completing their education and becoming qualified to teach.
At yesterday’s meeting with NLC’s leadership, Governor Zulum also directed the submission of a comprehensive list of all existing vacancies and eligible civil servants preparatory to a promotional exam to be held.
Zulum promised to look into all other issues raised by the labour leaders and also promised to work with chairmen towards engaging some consultants to manage the payroll systems of local government councils.
Comrade Yusuf Inuwa, however, appreciated Governor Zulum for his commitment to the welfare of workers in the state.
Inuwa made special note of the governor’s payment of 2020 and 2021 leave grants to entitled workers, as well as constant payment of monthly salaries, pensions, and significant progress made on gratuities.
The NLC however appealed to the state government on outstanding issues that include promotion arrears and arrears for re-verified local government staff and LEA teachers as well as minimum wage for local government and LEA staff.