Teachers’ Strike: The Intrigues, The Buck-Passing - As National Assembly, ASUU, NLC Back Action

Soji-Eze Fagbemi, Abuja
Protesting teachers: abandoning the
classrooms for the streets. Inset is
Aja-Nwachukwu, Education Minister.

It first started with a three-day warning strike and after that a respite until the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) was forced to embark on a full-blown strike which has already lasted a week.

Primary and secondary school teachers all over the country have complied with the directive of the NUT to stay away from classes in pursuit of the implementation of the Teachers’ Salary Structure (TSS). The NUT has insisted that the Federal Government must issue a circular to signal the commencement of TSS before the strike could be called off, but the government has been employing all forms of tricks to avoid taking any positive action on the earlier agreement between the two parties.

The problem that was thought would be addressed before it degenerated into a major crisis is already assuming a dangerous dimension as both the Federal Government and NUT appear to have drawn a battle line. While the NUT has secured the backing of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the coalition of labour and civil society organizations (LASCO) as well as the National Assembly, the government has remained an orphan in the crisis.

The NUT had earlier deferred the resumption of the nation-wide teachers’ strike after the three-day warning strike following positive signals from the Federal Government and interventions of other well-meaning persons and institutions, including the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Last week, the Minister of Education, Dr. Aja-Nwachukwu, assured the NUT and the nation that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) at its meeting of Wednesday June 25, 2008, would give the necessary approval for the enabling circular to be issued. He said the government was doing its best to resolve the issue as it would top the agenda of the discussion at the meeting. He even added that the memo to that effect had been sent seven days earlier and already listed on the FEC memos.

Expectedly, that development gave a sign of respite and Nigerians at that point trusted that the government was about to be reasonable enough not to allow the strike to go on, nor last for days. However, what came out of the last FEC meeting last Wednesday was quite at variance with the expectation of the NUT and Nigerians on the strike. Besides, statements from government officials gave a total contradiction of the expected position and earlier agreement.

The Minister of State for Education, Hajia Aisha Jibril-Dukku, stated that the Federal Government would not pay the TSS. Also, the Federal Government after its FEC meeting on Wednesday, called on the striking teachers to sheathe their sword and return to the negotiating table for amicable resolution of the impasse.

The Federal Government is also hiding under the guise that it could not determine what a state government should pay their workers, hence, issuing a circular on a salary structure that affects the state might not be realistic and visible. It also said that the issue would have to be subjected to another round of discussion, even when the same Federal Government had signed an agreement after a joint discussion with the teachers some years back.

Hyped by what they term as official deceit and misleading statement from government officials, the NUT said the strike continued and has added another dimension that it would picket private primary and secondary schools in order to force them to join the strike. Their reason is simple: those government officials who are arrogantly working against the implementation of the TSS and the issuance of the circular have their children at the private schools.

The teachers believe that since their own children attend these private schools, they would not experience the pains of the crisis, hence, would not be willing to do what is right. But the Minister of Information and Communications, Mr. John Odey, along with the Minister of Labour, Dr. Hassan Lawal, and the Minister of Education, after the FEC meeting, said the government would not fold its arms to allow the teachers to disrupt the teaching activities in private schools.

Reacting to the latest government position, the NUT said the end of the strike was never in sight going by the attitude of the Federal Government. Deputy President of NUT, Comrade Onem Nelson, said: “The issuance of the circular by the National Salaries and Wages Commission is the necessary administrative step towards the implementation of the Teachers’ Salary Structure. It is only at federal level that this step can be taken in line with the role of the Federal Government to set standards on wages and educational policy.

“Regrettably, the latest decision of the Federal Executive Council to the effect that the Teachers’ Salary Structure would be subjected to another round of so-called stakeholders’ discussion is unhelpful. The implication is that this administration has broken the commitment it had given to the NUT at the forum brokered by the House of Representatives Committee on Education.”

He stated that by virtually calling for fresh discussions and negotiations, the Federal Government had decided to repudiate the outcome of a long process of dialogue between NUT, the Federal Government and state governments on the creation of the Teachers’ Salary Structure.

“We passionately appeal to parents, guardians, pupils and students and the public to bear with the NUT. Much as the strike will be inconveniencing in some ways, we believe that this struggle must be waged effectively now in order to improve the lives of teachers and ensure that they are motivated to give the best to pupils and students.

“This struggle is not just for teachers; it is for the future of education in Nigeria, since Nigeria will not develop without sound education; and ill-motivated undedicated teachers cannot deliver what a good educational system requires. We believe that teachers’ motivation is critical to learning output and no serious learning can take place where teachers are poorly paid and poorly motivated,” he said.

Comrade Nelson regretted that the government was playing games with the future of Nigeria by adopting a lukewarm posture to the demand of the teachers, adding that ‘the government did not appreciate what it takes to address the crisis of education.’ He emphasized that the Federal Government had forced the teachers to go on strike, and that there was no going back.

In a statement titled: “Government officials are deceiving and misleading the public over NUT strike,” the NUT said the failure of the Federal Executive Council to resolve the matter gave cause for the public to doubt its commitment to education and teachers’ welfare. It said that from the comments by the two ministers, a few persons are misleading the FEC and misrepresenting the demand of the NUT.

The NUT said: “The two ministers misrepresented the NUT by seeking to create the impression that our union is insisting that the Federal Government should decide salaries for teachers employed by the states. The position of the NUT is that the Federal Government should issue a circular creating the Teachers’ Salary Structure for its teachers.

“The fund for the implementation of the Teachers’ Salary Structure at federal level is already built into the 2008 budget and appropriated by the National Assembly. The House of Representatives confirmed this while debating the issue on the floor of the House on Wednesday.”

This critically shows that the issue now is not one of ability to pay and the NUT also said it could not understand what was so difficult in issuing the circular to give effect to the disbursement for teachers employed by the Federal Government. It urged those seasoned and experienced functionaries in the Federal Executive Council to come to the rescue of the Federal Government so that it was not held captive by the inexperience of the Education Minister.

The NUT said, “The argument that the Federal Government has no right or role in relation to how the states run the primary and secondary school system is patently incorrect. The Education (National Minimum Standards and Establishment of Institutions) Act (Cap E3, Laws of the Federation) prescribes as the duty of the Education Minister the establishment and maintenance of minimum standards of education in the federation. Section 7 of the Act provides that the Education Minister ‘shall have regard’ for the motivation and welfare of teachers all over the federation.

“We insist that the Federal Government has a duty to set decent standards for the states to follow in the area of teachers’ welfare. This is the essence of this strike. We will not accept any escapist and diversionary resort to the stale narrative of federalism resorted to by some government officials, who do not appreciate the overriding developmental responsibilities of the Federal Government.

The NUT also argued that the State Governments through the National Council on Education were part of the negotiation of the TSS. This, it said, was why no state government was on record as having complained over the funding requirements of the TSS. It stated that the NUT cannot approach the states for the implementation of the TSS at this stage because no such salary structure exists yet; the TSS first has been created by a federal circular. Thereafter, the next stage will be the states.

It said the Trade Union Act gave NUT power to picket, saying. “The NUT has a right to picket the private schools. Section 42 of the Trade Union Act provides that it shall be lawful for one or more persons acting on behalf of a trade union in furtherance of a trade dispute to peacefully persuade any person to abstain from work. We advise the Ministers of Education and Information to receive proper guidance from the Attorney-General so that they will appreciate that picketing is lawful. We will take full advantage of the law in furtherance of this struggle.