The House of Representatives has directed the Federal Government to halt the mass retrenchment of Teachers and Workers of University Staff Secondary Schools and Primary Schools across the country.
The leadership of Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) had on the 24th December 2015, embarked on nationwide industrial action over the planned sack of the teachers and workers.
The House mandated its committee on Tertiary Education to meet with the Minister of Education “to throw light on the policy somersault and hasty decision of government to throw out thousands of workers from gainful employment.”The directive to government to stop the sacking of the teachers was part of the resolution in a motion ‘under matters of urgent national importance’ sponsored by Babatunde Kolawole (APC-Ondo).
The lawmaker who called for the intervention of the House, argued that sack of productive Nigerian teachers contradicts the proposed recruitment of 500,000 teachers by President Buhari’s administration.
Kolawole noted that teachers and general workers of University Staff Secondary Schools and Primary Schools are employees of the government of the federation through the Universities that engaged their services.
He said, “These teachers and general workers have long been engaged and have put in many years in the service of their fatherland ranging between 10 years and 30 years or more in the case of some of them.”
Kolawole noted with concern “ the recent Government policy of divesting itself from the University staff secondary schools and primary schools funding with the attendant implication of laying off all the teachers and general workers of these schools.”
The lawmaker who expressed concern over the plight of the workers, argued that “the economic reality of the moment and the general economic hardship people are going through today in Nigeria as a result of lack of gainful employment and underemployment,” will be worsened by the decision of the government to close all these schools.
The House urged Federal Government to make efforts to absorb teachers and workers already affected into the mainstream University staff pool.
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