NUT to meet Buhari over 65-year retirement age for teachers

The leadership of the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) would meet with President Muhammadu Buhari at Aso Villa in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, today (Tuesday).

The major agenda of the meeting is to remind Mr President of the necessity of his assent without further delay to the 65-Year Retirement Age Bill pending before him.

The secretary-general of the group, Dr Mike Ene, disclosed this in an exclusive chat with our correspondent on Monday, saying the NUT President, Dr Nasir Idris, would lead the delegation to Aso Villa.

According to him, it is high time Mr President signed into law the five-year-old bill seeking to increase the retirement age of teachers/education officers at primary and secondary school levels in the country from 60 to 65 years.

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“This is very important,” he pointed out. “Because teachers at this foundation level of education are critical to the development of the sector and the economy as a whole.”

While arguing that since professors in the university system are allowed to stay in service up to 70 years and lecturers in colleges of education 65 years, there is nothing wrong for teachers and education officers in primary and secondary schools to also stay till 65 years before retirement.

“That is even the way the country would gain more from their wealth of experience on the job,” he added.

Ene insisted that though there were many other issues begging for government attention in the sector that would be discussed with Mr President during the visit, the proposed 65-year age retirement is the most important.

Nigerian Tribune, however, recalls that Mr President had once sought the opinion of the Federal Ministry of Finance about the cost and other implications of assenting to the bill with the ministry said to have put up a positive argument in favour of the bill.