Gov Bello, please validate our appointments

 Sir, I congratulate you on your recent victory at the Supreme Court and   pledge our support to the success of your administration.  I want to bring my plight and that of many others to your attention.  Some people were recruited into the state Teaching Service Commission shortly before the end of the last administration. […]

 Sir, I congratulate you on your recent victory at the Supreme Court and   pledge our support to the success of your administration.  I want to bring my plight and that of many others to your attention.  Some people were recruited into the state Teaching Service Commission shortly before the end of the last administration. The exercise followed due processes as stipulated by law.

As a matter of fact, in fulfilment of the requirement, the Teaching Service Commission advertised vacancies in the print and electronic media. Indigenes of Kogi State with B.SC/B.ED were invited to apply. After that stage, some applicants were shortlisted for aptitude test and subsequently screened. 

 This exercise lasted for weeks, during which forms were filled by successful applicants. Many applicants who were not residing in Kogi State travelled to Lokoja, several times to fill one form or the other. At the end of the process, successful applicants were issued employment letters and posted to various schools.  Since then, we have not been recognised as teachers in the state and we have never been paid.

Our appeal is that you validate our appointments so that we can be treated properly. 

Similar recruitment exercises were conducted in Rivers and Ekiti states at about the same time. 

Sir, it may interest you to know that majority of the applicants are youths and there is no better way to encourage them than by giving them a source of livelihood.

I urge you to constitute a committee to look into the issue with a view to addressing our plight. 

El-Okene Adabara Abduljelil wrote from Lokoja, Kogi State