Over 300 teachers dismissed in 2015 by former Akwa Ibom State Governor Udom Emmanuel have called on Senate President Godswill Akpabio to intervene on their behalf.
The affected teachers were part of 5,000 individuals recruited in April 2015 during Akpabio’s tenure as governor to support his free and compulsory education initiative.
While over 4,000 were eventually reinstated under Emmanuel’s administration following prolonged legal battles, a significant number remain excluded from the state civil service.
Speaking over the weekend, Edidiong Udi, coordinator of the dismissed teachers, urged Akpabio to leverage his political relationship with Governor Umo Eno to facilitate their reinstatement.
Udi said, “The Senate President is a visionary leader, the man of the people. As a father and as a man who recruited the uncommon teachers in 2015, We would want him to prevail on the state governor to reinstate us.
Read Also: Clean Nigeria: Akwa Ibom, Lagos, four other rated cleanest states in Nigeria
“We are pleading with him to use his political relationship with the governor and as the political leader of the state, to reinstate the teachers he recruited.
“Let me also say this that the 5,000 are one of the legacies of the Senate President when he was the governor of the state. He recruited us and the recruitment was not politically done.
“It was based on the needs assessment of secondary schools in the state and that was in fulfilment of his promise to ensure that there are enough teachers in our public schools for our children.
“His policy initiative in education actually brought people around the world to benefit from the free and compulsory education of his administration. So the state needed teachers to compliment that policy”, he said.
Udi promised that the teachers when reinstated will help Governor Eno actualize the education component of his A.R.I.S.E Agenda.
“We are Akwa Ibom people not foreigners and we are ready to serve and help raise the next generation of leaders that will pilot the affairs of the state.
“We are ready to help the governor actualize the education component of his ARISE Agenda. We were recruited after rigorous written and oral interviews and tests, medical examination and properly documented and issued employment to by February 2015”, he said.