Why we want primary school funding under UBEB – FCT NUT chairman

Can you tell us what you have achieved since you assumed office as the chairman of the FCT wing of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT)? Well, since I assumed the mantle of leadership of this great union some few months ago, I have been pursuing the welfare of our members, ranging from payment of […]

Can you tell us what you have achieved since you assumed office as the chairman of the FCT wing of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT)?

Well, since I assumed the mantle of leadership of this great union some few months ago, I have been pursuing the welfare of our members, ranging from payment of arrears and promotion and the  arrears of annual increment that were left unpaid. 

We also met a lot of things on ground that have to do with entitlement of marking and mock examination, which we have been able to pursue vigorously and that has been cleared. The union, under my leadership, has also maintained a cordial relationship with the FCT Administration, which has ensured prompt payment of teachers’ salaries. And as I speak to you now, there are no arrears of salaries of teachers or workers of the union. 

In addition, our projects as a union need attention. For instance, our guest house has been completed 100 percent and is ready to be used by our members and guests. And right now, we are making arrangement to employ staff who are going to work at the guest house. 

We have also taken our cooperative society to a higher level and membership is increasing on daily basis.  We have maintained our integrity so much that we procured loans for our teeming members and most of them have invested in many areas. Above all, there is peace among the members of the union in the FCT.

The union staged a peaceful protest recently to the FCT minister’s office to demand for the managing, funding of primary education and payment of teachers’ salaries to be under the care of the UBEB, what informed that demand?  

You see, those of us you saw on that day of the peaceful protest were not only members of the union, there were also professionals in the teaching job, including key stakeholders in the education sector. So that day, we came out to make our issue clear to the FCT minister, the general public and stakeholders in the education sector. 

It is on the agitation for local government autonomy, which we are saying if it has to be granted to them, then, the government should let the position of funding and management of primary education out of it, because to us, we have not forgotten the issues of the past.

However, let me make it clear here like I said on that day before the representative of the FCT minister, that we as a union are not against local government autonomy if that is what Nigerians believe would bring development to all the nooks and crannies of the country. But the union is concerned about the likelihood of scrapping the State Joint Local Government Account which would mean taking primary education back to the dark, pre-1994 era. As experience has shown, local government councils neither have the financial capacity nor the political will to fund and manage primary schools in the country. And that was why the union decided to draw the attention of the government that any attempt made to hand over primary education to local governments amounts to consigning primary education to the abyss of total collapse.

Area council chairmen have always said that 80% of their monthly allocation goes to payment of teachers’ salaries. How would you react to this? 

Actually, I can confirm that to be true, but again, they also need to understand that it is a simple arithmetical calculation as we are in  large numbers in all area councils. So, if you go by calculation, like I have rightly said, it has to be like that because the number of teachers is more than the area council staff. And I want to tell you that we don’t take any money outside our salary, entitlement and other benefits. So if any area council, for instance, is having problem over its monthly allocation, I advise such area council to carry out screening. I believe all the area councils have done so and they have confirmed that the actual allocations that come to them are correct. So, if the area councils are complaining of inadequate allocation, I think they should agitate for increase in their monthly allocation so that they can carry out projects at their various councils.    

What are the challenges your union is facing in the FCT? 

The challenge we have right now is that some area councils in the FCT have not paid our teachers their areas since 2012.  But we have entered an agreement with them  on when and how the arrears will be paid.