Teachers told not to fear LG autonomy
Teachers in the country have been advised not to allow themselves to be misled about the gains an autonomous local government will bring to the development of the country.
This advice was given by a youth group, Nigeria Youth for Positive Change (NYPC) at a press briefing held Saturday in Abuja.
National Coordinator of NYPC, Comrade Nasiru Kabir said teachers in the country have nothing to fear once full autonomy is granted to local government areas as being insinuated in some quarters.
He blamed the national president of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Mr Michael Alogba, for the recent sack of teachers in Kaduna and Ogun states, accusing Alogba of misinforming the teachers on who will be responsible for payment of their salary when an autonomous local government system is achieved.
He urged the teachers to demand from their national president why he was not at the protest rally held by the NLC in Kaduna to protest against the sack of 22,000 teachers by the Kaduna State government if he had their interest at heart.
He wondered why the national leadership of the NUT will back the Ioint state local government account which has been described as conduit pipe of massive looting of local government funds by state governors and has led to massive underdevelopment of the local government areas.
Kabir explained that following the Supreme Court judgment of April 2004, payment of teachers’ salaries should be the responsibility of both state and local government.
He said under the new agreement reached, there will be special account for the purpose of teachers’ salaries and other allowances.
He said the youth coalition could not understand the NUT president`s position even when their fear about teachers’ salary was well addressed in the bill passed by the National Assembly for considering the salaries on first line charge by an edict of each state assembly when the bill is finally become a law.
He appealed to the teachers to support other major stakeholders in ensuring LG is liberated for prompt development of the grassroots.