Ogun State chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress has given the state government a seven-day ultimatum failing which to address the demands of the Nigeria Union of Teachers, will have the group to contend with.
Speaking during a protest organized by teachers in the state, weekend, Chairman of the NLC, Akeem Ambali disclosed that, the NLC in the state was ready to act as an intermediary between the government and the Nigeria Union of Teachers.
The state chapter of the NUT has joined eight other states in the ongoing indefinite strike to press for the implementation of the 27.5 per cent Teachers’ Peculiar Allowance, TPA, vowing not to call its members to return to classrooms unless all its demands were met.
Addressing the members of the NUT in the state during the rally, Ambali said, “we want to appeal to the government, we want to negotiate with the government for the next seven days, I know something positive will come out. But if that fails, we will not hesitate to continuously offer a purposeful leadership to the Nigeria Union of Teachers.
“Teachers are not well fed. Our meagre allowance cannot take us home. We are open to negotiation, we don’t have closed minds. The government must be able to come up to know the recognized and legalized union of teachers.
“Negotiation must be well documented. We are not sycophants; we are not being sponsored by government.
“What are we fighting for? What is our government doing as regards democratic dividend?
“The government has been seized by sycophants, that is the truth.
“Governor Amosun is from us; he is one of us, no matter what happened in Oke-Mosan, he got to that through Labour.
“When he lost the first election, we sympathized with him, we prayed to God Almighty; with the efforts of the downtrodden masses and Labour he is now at Oke-Mosan.
“Now, let us remind His Excellency that at a point in time he should remember his oath with the Labour. He told us that his government is going to be a worker driven government; where is our welfare that he promised? Is 27.5 per cent not part of our welfare? Let us pray that God Almighty will touch the heart of the governor and the government to pay the money immediately.”
The protesting teachers, numbering about 500, led by the state NUT Chairman, Comrade Dare Ilekoya, protested the alleged failure of the state government to respond to the teachers’ agitations and grievances. carried placards with various inscriptions such as: ‘N4 billion plus Federal allocation is enough to pay,’ ‘Teachers are moulders, they deserve a lot of respect,’ ‘ASSUS is a government sponsored anti-teachers progress,’ ‘Ogun teachers deserve Ogun standard’ and ‘No 27.5 per cent to teachers, no resumption,’ among others.
