Delta NUT reaches accord with Okowa, set to call off strike

FOURTH day into the industrial action embarked upon by teachers in public primary and secondary schools in Delta State, the leadership of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Delta State chapter, has expressed willingness to call off the strike before Monday.

This ray of hope emerged on Thursday at a press conference leadership of the union had with Governor Ifeanyi Okowa at the Governor’s Lodge, Annexe in Warri.

Chairman of NUT in Delta State, Comrade Jonathan Jemirieyigbe, after the meeting, disclosed that the deliberation was fruitful and that the strike action would be called off within few days.

“Between now and Monday, we will call off the strike; we had a very fruitful discussion with the governor,” he said.

The union leader added that “we are Deltans and the governor, Senator Okowa is a good man, dealing with us the way fathers deal with their children.”

According to Jemirieyigbe, Governor Okowa is labour-friendly and therefore, wrong for a section of the media to portray him in bad light as a result of the sit-at-home action embarked upon by teachers in the state.

Meanwhile, Governor Okowa has expressed hope that the teachers would return to the classroom, based on the assurances he got at the meeting in Warri.

“We had a fruitful meeting and we discussed issues concerning the teachers and how to move our state forward,” Okowa disclosed to journalists.

Present at the meeting were Special Adviser to the Governor on Labour Matters, Comrade Mike Okeme, select local government chairman and top members of the NUT, among others.