#MayDay2017: Don’t practice partisan politics, Bayelsa govt tells NULGE, NUT

OWING to the delay in paying primary schools teachers’ salaries, the Bayelsa State government has advised members of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) and other affiliate unions to resist temptation of been used by opposition parties to position parties to destabilise the system.

The present administration in the state holds its workforce in high esteem and is ready to do anything as the constitution permits to make lives more meaningful to them.

The government in a statement signed by the Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Hon Jonathan Obuebite, says it is regrettable that teachers and non teaching staff at the primary school
level are not at par in term of payment of salary with their counterpart at the state level.

The statement blamed the development on the economic recession that is not peculiar to the local councils and state alone.

Accordingly, He noted that though the payment of the salary of the primary school teachers and non teaching staff is the responsibility of the federal government, adding the Dickson led government initially supported with 80 per cent, but the recession slash it to 60 per cent and later it pull out as the state’s allocation drop drastically.

The statement adds that payroll fraud, unauthorised employment and over bloated wage bill are other factors affecting local government administration in the state.

Obuebite adds that there is need to sanitise the system to pave way for fresh employment and reduce the wage bill.

There are some workers that are due for retirement but they keep on falsifying their records of service, so as to remain longer in the civil service. This act cannot be condoned.

Also, we have a situation in Bayelsa State where some schools have very few students with outrageous number of staff.

There is a particular school with one headmaster and teacher but with no fewer than 75 non academic staff. This is nothing but fraud.

Since assumption of office, we have never and will not tamper with local government allocation. This has been attested to by various committees set up by the Federal Government and even Senate standing committee on local government administration.

This administration is committed to the welfare of its workforce including teachers. Of recent, some teachers were promoted to the level of permanent secretaries. This has never happened in the history of the state.

Obuebite said government will soon inaugurate a special committee to be headed by the Chief of Staff Government House, Rt Hon Talford Ongolo and made up of commissioners, top government functionaries and labour leaders to work with the various councils to come up with a workable school staffing policy for primary and secondary schools in the state.

He committee would also recommend government contribution as intervention to run the primary education system in the state.

The statement disclosed further that after the completion of the ongoing verification exercise, the government will employ more teachers into the service.

He pointed that education remains our topmost priority to the Dickson led government, hence, the massive investment in the establishment of the Ijaw National Academy and over 25 model and constituency boarding schools in the state.

The statement therefore called for the cooperation of the leadership of the union’s at ensuring the success of the exercise.

We should guide against playing politics with the development of our dear state, especially the future of our children.

The statement stated that the government will soon inaugurate another committee to look into the employment situation in the state.

The state government therefore commend the efforts of organise labour in the state at ensuring the socio-economic development of the state.