The gubernatorial candidate of the main opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Gombe state for the forthcoming general elections, Senator Bayero Usman Nafada has declared that he hates the phrase ‘Teachers reward is in Heaven’ assuring that he will do everything humanly possible to reward every teacher in the state if he is eventually elected as the next Governor of the state, just as he expressed support for the N30,000 National Minimum Wage.
According to Bayero Nafada, who held an interactive session with the organised Labour in Gombe State, all teachers must be respected and treated well here on Earth emphasizing that teachers should only expect the balance of their good reward in heaven.
While throwing his weight behind the agitation for N30,000 as the National Minimum Wage as demanded by NLC, Bayero Nafada said that all public primary and secondary schools need to be upgraded to what is obtainable in this digital era.
He said, “our primary and secondary schools need to be upgraded, there hasn’t been any change in the sector for the past 20 to 30 years. The same blackboard that was used is what is still being used today. We must change the situation for good”.
He also said that he will prioritise the training and retraining of teachers in the state as a way of upgrading them to meeting world best standard and assured if voted into power, he will increase the salaries of civil servants, because of the present economic realities.
The PDP governorship candidate also pledged to ensure that local governments were fully functional, through adequate funding, so as to make the chairmen available in the local governments and respond to issues immediately and promptly at all times.
On security, senator Bayero Nafada assured, that when voted in to power, he would mobilise traditional rulers to work with the local government administrations in order to be able to tackle critical security issues just as he also assured that he would empower the masses of Gombe State by encouraging agricultural activities through irrigation, by using the two available dams in the state.
In his remarks, the chairman of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) in Gombe State, Haruna Kamara, said that even though the meeting was about getting the commitment of the various governorship candidates on the payment of the N30,000 national minimum wage, various unions also asked questions on their own welfare.
Haruna Kamara however said that the Labour Congress is out to ensure that it gets the commitment of all governorship candidates to ensure that, if elected into power, they will guarantee the welfare of retired and serving civil servants.