Workers are not slave and should not be treated as such Vice President of Industrial Global Union, Comrade Isa Aremu, has told defaulting governors.
He said the conditions under which most governors have subjected workers across the nation is akin to modern slavery.
Aremu told our correspondent exclusively in Abuja that workers are entitled to being paid as at when due, saying governors are not doing them any favour by paying.
The General Secretary of the National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria and member of the National Executive Council of the Nigerian Labour Congress(NLC) said: “The difference between slaves and workers is that slaves are not paid while workers are paid as and when due.
“We are not running a slave kingdom but a Federal Republic based on the 1999 Constitution that recognises the need to pay workers as and when due, emphasising the dignity of Labour.
“I think that defaulting governors should learn from their colleagues that are paying with Paris Club or not. Some Governors have been paying their workers as at when due.”
On why governors should pay promptly, he stated: “Recently, the World Bank released statistics about states that are doing well in terms of businesses and they all include states that are paying their workers as and when due.
“Payment of workers’ salaries is good economics and is good for economic recovery.
“In any case, what do workers do with their salaries? They buy basic goods, pay rent, buy food, pay the school fees of their children. So, it is also good to run the economy well by paying.
“If you don’t pay, you are also under developing your state.
“Above all, it is a fundamental right which is not negotiable and should not be tied to whether they release Paris club refund or not. None of these Governors will tell you that their salaries are tied to Paris club refund.”
He went on: “Every worker, right from the President to the Governors to the cleaner, is entitled to his pay.
“We have to find a way to let them understand the challenge of governance with respect to the payment of the workforce.
“Our governors should also know that they not just employers of Labour. They are government to enforce Nigeria Labour laws.
“They are supposed to make sure that private employers pay as and when due and if they don’t pay, they should sanction the, based on the law.”
The German and Canadian governments have pledged to collaborate with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on vocational training and skills acquisition.
The Canadian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Christopher Thornley, who stated this in Abuja, when he hosted the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Ayuba Wabba, commended the congress for adopting focusing on vocational training for the youth.
He said the trade union movement in Canada has been involved in HIV/AIDS campaign, stressing that it is common knowledge that unemployment has become like an epidemic in the country.
He described the NLC as an important partner in the development of the country, adding that labour economy is a very important source of information for any society.
Receiving the NLC delegation, the German Ambassador to Nigeria, Berhard Schlagheck, reiterated the German government readiness to collaborate with the NLC to ensure the development of the country and the trade union movement.
The NLC helmsman said collaboration with Germany and Canada was necessary to curb the high level of migration through the Mediterranean by Nigerian youths seeking better sources of living.
At the Canadian High Commission, Wabba said the congress was committed to working with development partners to explore areas of possible assistance within the context of the current economic challenges, especially in the area of unemployment and vocational training.
Wabba noted that the congress would continue its advocacy in development, pointing out that the congress was playing a leading role on the African Continent in development.
He said the power sector, which is critical to development, has remained a major challenge and sought Canada’s assistance to overcome the challenges, saying since Canada had similar challenges, the congress would want to know how it overcame i.hem
He also canvassed the assistance of the Canadian government in advancing social justice, stressing that in a society where there is lack of social justice, inequality will prevail.
At the German Embassy, Wabba said the congress was ready to learn from Germany how it overcame the problem of unemployment.
He said the congress has been working with German agencies such as the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) in developing the capacity of trade union movement in Nigeria.
The Nigeria Labour Congress ( NLC ) has condemned the sack of 5,000 local government workers by the Kaduna State Government.
In a statement on Thursday in Abuja, President of NLC, Mr Ayuba Wabba, said the action of the state government was illegal.
According to him, the Nigeria Labour Congress strongly condemns the mass sacking of 5,000 local government workers by the Kaduna State Government.
“The purported sack violates the provisions of all labour laws, industrial relations practice as well as processes.
“The reasons adduced by the government are spurious and unfounded. Aside from this, the process is patently faulty and unlawful, and redundancy cannot be carried out without following the provisions of the Labour Act.
“When Kaduna Government announced the plan to lay off about 25,000 teachers for failing a competency test for Primary Four Class, we expressed our misgivings.
“We said that the so-called competency test was a subterfuge and part of a premeditated plan to drastically cut down the workforce.
“This is in furtherance to dangerous neo-liberal policies. The latest illegal mass sack of workers lends credence to our assertions or fears.
“We would want to warn of the consequences of the reckless actions of the government of Kaduna State and will call for caution and restraint on the part of the government,’’ he said.
The labour leader said it was evident that the state government did not give sufficient consideration to the social consequences of dropping off 5,000 workers.
He deplored reports that the governor boasted that no one or nothing could stop him from carrying out his agenda of mass retrenchment of workers.
“This is most unfortunate and a direct fulfilment of the exact opposite of his campaign promise and APC’s manifesto to create jobs.
“He often says as Governor, he has the right, power, means and will to do as he likes, but this is undemocratic and anti-workers.
“We are worried by these emotional outbursts, and their infectious effects on his peers and the polity as a whole.
“We at the Nigeria Labour Congress expected more maturity and flexibility.
“We accordingly advise the government to rescind its decision on the mass sack. We call on President Muhammadu Buhari and his party, the APC, to call the governor to order,’’ he said.
Wabba also noted that the President’s support for a reform in the education sector was not synonymous with “mindless and conscienceless retrenchment’’.
He said that some states in the federation had carried out far-reaching reforms in the education sector with impressive results without causing social violence.
He, therefore, called on the state government to heed to wise counsel given in good faith, adding that the statement should be considered as a served notice.
The congress president said that workers would use all lawful means available to contest the wave of the mass sack.
He said that NLC would mobilize workers and pensioners across the nation and its civil society allies in solidarity with workers in Kaduna
The Nigeria Labour Congress( NLC ) has expressed concern over the resurgence of strikes at vulnerable targets by Boko Haram in the North East.
NLC President Ayuba Wabba, in a statement on Thursday in Abuja, described the killings as reprehensible.
“The Nigeria Labour Congress wishes to commiserate with the government and people of Adamawa State over the killing of 50 worshippers in Mubi by a suspected Boko Haram suicide bomber.
“We also condemn the slaying of 30 herders by yet to be identified assailants. These cold-blooded killings are shocking and reprehensible. We demand that the perpetrators be found and brought to book.
“On the killings of worshippers in the mosques, we are worried by this resurgence of strikes the by Boko Haram elements operating from fall back positions.”
Wabba, while urging security and intelligence officers to do more, said that the NLC appreciated the difficulties associated with policing an area as vast as the North-East.
He also called for the strengthening of security awareness and intelligence gathering among the local populace as well as the de-radicalisation campaign generally by the military personnel.
“We believe the Boko Haram insurgents have been defeated. What we are witnessing may not be another phase of the war hopefully but a desperate attempt by a handful ragtags to create one by striking fear in the hearts of the people,’’ he added.
In a separate statement, the NLC commiserated with the government and people of Anambra over the demise of former Vice President Alex Ekwueme.
Wabba described the late Ekwueme as a “Jewel in the Pack”, adding that his death had robbed not just the political class but the Nigerian nation, the wise counsel of “one among a few who have seen it all”.
“Dr Ekwueme was a distinguished architect, intellectual, affable politician, a credible personality and a respected elder statesman rolled into one.
“His death represents a curtain call on (not a final one though) the second Republic politicians, much vilified for their excesses but whom history mercifully redeemed by the more daring excesses of successor rulers or politicians.
“We make bold to say that even when it was a patriotic act to condemn the Second Republic politicians, Ekwueme was a jewel in the pack as he was neither found wanting in government nor by the probe panel set up by the soldiers that overthrew that government.
“Indeed, of him, it was said that he left government poorer than he joined it,” Wabba said.
He stressed that the least that could be done in Ekwueme’s memory was to imbibe his “endearing personal qualities”.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has raised the alarm over the safety of labour leaders in Kaduna State.
It said the government was allegedly planning to harass and intimidate the union.
NLC further alleged that the government wants to arrest and detain workers to prevent opposition to the planned sack of workers.
The body accused the government of trying to arrest labour leaders using the courts, saying such attitude will only compound the dispute.
NLC President Comrade Ayuba Wabba, who spoke at the National Executive Council meeting, added that the government will inaugurate the national minimum wage negotiation committee soon.
He said the body resolved that if the state’s labour leaders were arrested, all state chapters would embark on a solidarity strike.
Wabba, who said the congress was not opposed to reforms, however, noted that they are protesting lack of transparency in the reform processes.
The union alleged that mass sack of workers was one condition laid down by the World Bank to the state for accessing foreign loan.
He said: “NLC is disturbed and uses this medium to condemn the information we have that the Kaduna State government has sought to get a court process to arrest labour leaders.
“NLC observes that this is not in tandem with the principles of the rule of law and due process. The court has no jurisdiction over labour and industrial relations matters, especially the issues in dispute in Kaduna, which is related to the mass sack of workers.
“Peace and security are important. When we have instability anywhere, it means inequality will continue to be exacerbated. Therefore, we are concerned with all of this, but more important are the issues of due process and rule of law. Workers have come under serious attack because those rights have been violated and we have evidences that such rights have been violated…”
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has condemned President Muhammadu Buhari ‘s endorsement of the sack of about 22,000 teachers by the Kaduna state government, saying it was regrettable that a government that promised to create jobs for the people is rather killing jobs.
Deputy President of Congress, Comrade Peters Adeyemi told The Nation that the President was wrong in backing the decision by the Kaduna state government without hearing from the representatives of the workers, pointing out that the President should realize that the entire country was his constituency.
President Buhari reportedly backed the action of the Kaduna state government to embark on a mass sack of teachers who allegedly failed competency test, but the NLC is insisting that the government made up its mind to sack workers and not because the teachers failed an exam.
He said: “We just heard about that and I doubt if that is correct. If that is correct, then one is in doubt whether the President was well informed. Clearly, as a father, the President is expected to listen to all the sides to a story. It will be unfortunate if the President took a position by only listening to the governor of Kaduna state which we know is a party person.
“The President should realize that the entire country is his constituency and every Organisation including the Labour movement is part of his constituency. So, it is unfortunate that statement was made.
“We condemn it if it is true because it is clearly condemnable for our respected President to approve in a jiffy an action of a government that put into the unemployment market at one full sweep 22,000 to 30,000 workers without conducting any investigation. Labour is still contesting this matter to say it is not correct. We think it is clearly unfair NDE something that is regrettable. We in the Labour movement will seriously seek an audience with Mr. President on this matter and put our case to him.
“We do not think it was the right decision to take because it is clearly unfair. I do not think it is right because this government promised employment and not unemployment. This government said it will create jobs. They did not tell that they will kill jobs.
“For God sake, who employed those workers in the first instance? Why not deal with those who employed those you think are not supposed to be in the employment. These people did not employ themselves in the first place. Government employed them and they have been working with the government who now find them unemployable overnight?
Gov Nasir el Rufai
“Labour has contested whether it is within the right of the Kaduna state government to set exams for teachers. The answer is no because we know clearly that you can set exams for people to fail. If you really want to sack workers, you can design questions that will make them fail.
“The question we should ask ourselves is, is the Kaduna state government not on the part of sacking workers? They want to sack workers and they have achieved that. I learnt they claimed to have given approval for an equal number of workers to be employed.
“They can say that to the wind and not to us. We don’t support the President’s endorsement of the action. We are in a democratic dispensation and we don’t support the sack of about 22,000 to 30,000 workers at a go. It is not supported by us.”
Meanwhile, the Congress has asked the governor to withdraw his unpopular policy or face what it described as the mother of all rally, saying no amount of intimidation will deter it from protecting the rights of workers.
President of Congress, Comrade Ayuba Wabba said in a statement made available to The Nation that the planned mobilisation of youths across the state by the government to demonstrate in support of the mass sack of workers will not help his administration, asking him to beat a tactical retreat instead.
The Congress accused the state governor of wasting the state resources to mobilise thugs and youths to demonstrate in support of his policy and asked the youths not to be deceived by the government.
The statement reads: “We have credible information that the Governor of Kaduna State has directed the Sole Administrators in the 23 local governments in the state touse the resources of the local governments to mobilise thugs to Kaduna metropolis to demonstrate in support of his obnoxious policy on the mass sack of workers.
“We at the Nigeria Labour Congress condemn the use of public funds for the pursuit of nihilistic and sadistic agenda. It is criminal and goes against the grain of civilised behaviour and transparency.
“It is equally the height of hypocrisy, impunity, moral turpitude and self-righteousness. We advise the Governor to put this money to more fruitful or beneficial use of KadunaState people instead of this brazen profligacy.
“We equally advise the youths in the state not to allow themselves to be usedby the Governor as it is the jobs of their parents that are being put on the line. We would want to make the point that no amount of money can make up for the means of livelihood of their parents or guardians; thus they should shun this inducement.
“On our part, we would want to sound a note of caution to the Governor. After our Wednesday rally, we had thought he had seen the handwriting on the wall….the overwhelming resentment against his unpopular and self-serving policies.
“His resolve to rent youths/crowds with scarce public funds( from the local governments where he has created starvation, unemployment and want), instead of tactical withdrawal, clearly suggests how far gone he is on a mission of self-immolation as well as on a mission todestroy careers, means of livelihood and homes.
“We want to reassure him we will resist his malevolent,inhuman and unlawful policieswith all the lawful means available to us. Accordingly, he should be ready to keep a date with us in a mother of all rallies as we mobilise workers, pensioners, and our civil society allies across the country to the state. It is a date we intend to keep withhim except he advises himself wisely.”
President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday in Abuja endorsed the ongoing primary school education reforms embarked upon by the Kaduna state government.
The President made this known when he declared open a special retreat of the Federal Executive Council on Education, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
It would be recalled that the administration of Gov. Nasir El Rufai came under attacks, recently, especially from the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) over plans by the governor to sack at least 21, 780 primary school teachers, who could not pass a competency test.
The development which did not go down well with the leadership of the NLC prompted a protest on Nov. 8 over what it described as `obnoxious plan’ by the state government to sack the teachers.
However, Buhari while decrying the rot in the sector, said Nigeria could not progress beyond the level and standard of its current educational system.
“To digress a little bit so that you know that I meant what I read.
“Having been an orphan, I still feel that whatever I did in life so far was built by boarding school. For nine years I was in boarding school, three in primary and six in secondary school.
“In those days, teachers treat their students or children like their own children. If you did well they will tell you, you did well, if you don’t do well they never spared the rod.
“When I finished my secondary school, I didn’t work for a day, I refused to work for a day, I left home, I refused to work in the local government, and then I joined the army. And the army of that time we went through all we went through up-to the civil war.
“And then I listened to one of the Nigerians I respect, he said after his training here in Nigeria and the United States, he went to his alma-mater, his primary school to see what he could contribute.
“I won’t mention his name but when he went, he couldn’t differentiate between the students, the children and the teachers.
Buhari’s voice on El Rufai
“And what El-Rufai is trying to do now is exactly what that man told me about 10 years ago. It is a very, very serious situation, when teachers cannot pass their exams that they are supposed to teach the children to pass.
“It is a very tragic situation we are in and this our gathering together to me is one of the most important in this administration.”
Buhari said with the rot in the education sector, drastic measures had become necessary to salvage the situation.
According to him, the state of education in Nigeria calls for a serious concern, saying that stakeholders should not feign ignorance that the quality of education in Nigeria has dropped and would require greater attention and improvement.
He said the All Progressive Congress (APC) which he rode on to become President was committed to all the electoral promises made to revamp the education sector.
He also revealed that current statistics of out of school children stood at 13.2 million up from the 10 million estimated by the United Nations few years back.
“We cannot afford to continue lagging behind. Education is our launch-pad to a more successful, more productive and more prosperous future.
“This administration is committed to revitalising our education system and making it more responsive and globally competitive.”
He commended the Ministry of Education for setting the stage for this national conversation that aimed at refocusing the education sector.
The president expressed the hope that the retreat would not only overcome the numerous challenges facing the nation’s education sector, but also to strengthen the Ministerial Strategic Plan that had already been developed by the ministry.
He said: “The significance of this summit is obvious. We cannot progress beyond the level and standard of our education.
“Today, it is those who acquire the most qualitative education, equipped with requisite skills and training, and empowered with practical knowhow that are leading the rest.
“Education upgrades the living standard of citizens and enables people to become better and more productive citizens. It is a human right that creates a safe, healthy and prosperous society.
“These efforts are justifiable only to the extent that schooling is effective in promoting the realization of national objectives, attaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Education For All (EFA) by 2030.
“These targets are, happily, in harmony with the manifesto and the CHANGE agenda of our Party, the All Progressive Congress (APC).’’
Buhari said his administration was determined to turnaround the sector for the better, noting that already the government was making appreciable progress in this respect.
He, therefore, challenged participants of the retreat to come out with strategies that would address the challenges of basic and secondary education, teacher training and professional development; technical and vocational education.
“The summit must work to enhance quality in, and access to, higher education and other challenges in the sector that will debar us from attaining the SDGs and be among the top 20 economies in the world,’’
In his remarks, the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, advocated declaration of state of emergency in education so as to achieve the desired goals in the sector.
He stressed the need to carry the universities and other tertiary institutions along while driving the nation’s national development objectives.
“Mr President, to achieve the desired change that education needs, there is need for improved funding and a measure of political will in national governance,’’ he said.
The Retreat, with the theme; “Education Sector in Nigeria Challenges and Prospects”, has Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, cabinet ministers, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Presidential aides, heads of agencies and parastatals under the Ministry of Education as participants.
Nigerians are yet to feel impact of the 2017 budget less than 60 days to the end of the year, The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) lamented yesterday.
“We have not seen the impact at a very large scale of those interventions in the 2017 budget.
“I am not sure there are critical infrastructures that have been addressed in the 2017 budget,” its president, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, told our correspondent yesterday.
He informed the economic team put in place by the congress is studying the 2018 budget estimates presented to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari with a view to engaging the lawmakers and make positive contributions to the process.
“The difference we want to see with the 2018 budget is the issue of those critical infrastructures that can drive the process of development because development cannot thrive if you don’t have power.
”Most companies cannot meet their operational expenses because of the high amount of money they need to put into power.
“Power and roads are very critical infrastructures as well as rail and steel development. We import most of the steel we use in the country now.
“We will save a lot of foreign exchange if we are able to develop steel needed to drive critical infrastructures in this country.
“Most countries in the world try and fix their steel because we need them to build roads, houses and other critical infrastructures.
“This should be the picture of what the budget should be able to address if we want an impact that people can feel and understand as well as get out of this depressed economy,” Wabba stated.
Speaking on recovered loots, the NLC President said: “They should be used to finance critical infrastructures. Some of these loots are coming from a budgetary process that was supposed to address and fix our critical infrastructures.
“Our position is that it should be budgeted for and channeled to very key but critical infrastructures that will require such an intervention that can make the necessary impact.
“That I think is what should be done and it should be managed in a very transparent way.”
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has said that the planned sack of about 21,780 teachers by the Kaduna state government in a supposed education reform was part of a larger plan by the government to embark on mass sack of workers in the employment of the state and its local governments.
President of Congress, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, who spoke at a news conference in Abuja yesterday said Congress’ finding revealed that the state government was planning to sack more than 30,000 workers, beginning with the teachers.
He said the competency test conducted by the government was not aimed at testing for quality but an agenda to reduce the state’s work force.
Wabba, who assured workers in the employment of the Kaduna State Government that the Congress would stand by them to resist any attempt to sack them, said the government had concluded arrangements to sack about 8,000 local government workers and another 5,000 from the ministries, departments and agencies.
The NLC President gave newsmen a letter from the Ministry of Local Government Affairs signed by Ja’Afaru Ibrahim Sani and addressed to the Chairman of the Local Government Service Commission to back his claim of an impending mass sack in the state.
The letter directed the commission to, among others things “study and consolidate the organogram based on the approved establishments indicated for the councils, examine all staff based on their credentials and track record in order to appropriately restructure the departments and units under them and conclude and submit names of staff who will be retained based on the approved establishment as well as names of staff that are surplus to requirement.”
The letter dated October 25, 2017 requested that the submissions be made to the Local Government Service Commission on or before October 30, 2017.
Wabba also denied claims by the Kaduna State Government that worker’s protest to the Kaduna State House of Assembly was marred by violence and vandalisation of property, pointing out that their protest was peaceful and in line with internationally laid down procedure for workers’ protest.
He said: “The state government has earmarked about 30,000 workers to be laid off, consisting of 21,780 teachers already penned down to be sacked under the pretext that they failed a competency test, while 5,000 local government workers are to be sacked under the local government councils restructuring order 2017, and 8,000 more workers in ministries, departments and agencies are to be sacked for sundry but unjustifiable reasons.
“The teachers’ case is a disguise that must not be treated separately as the ultimate plan is to execute a wholesome mass sack. Wednesday’s protest was to express our collective opposition to the anti-workers policies of Governor Nasir El-Rufai’s government in Kaduna State, which are obviously directed at not just sacking workers en masse but deepening poverty and deprivation as well s circumscribing the fundamental rights of the people, particularly workers in the state.
“What surprises us is his penchant for falsehood and fraudulent claims in his quest to impose hardship on the people, especially workers.
“For instance, his government’s claim that the competency test conducted on teachers in the state was transparent is not only false but shrouded in arrant fraud as we have found out that some of those claimed to have passed the test were dead teachers as well as retired teachers who left service two years ago. Also included were school guards who were never engaged in teaching service.
“The competency test was simply a sham as well as a pre-meditated action to reduce the workforce. We must make it clear to the public that the ultimate intention of the Kaduna State Government is massive reduction of the state workforce. The target is the entire civil service, local governments, ministries, departments and agencies.
“The so called competency test was conducted without the relevant professional bodies regulating the teaching profession. But more especially, it was done by a government with a prejudicial mind and intent.
“The Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria and the National Teachers Institute were not involved in the process. The unions, particularly the Nigeria Union of Teachers and the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees were left out because the motives were not about testing for quality but a disguise to throw people out of employment.
“The principles of collective bargaining in labour relations as enshrined in our national laws and conventions of the International Labour Organisation were not followed.
“The truth is that the state government is planning to sack about 5,000 local government workers and 8,000 others from the ministries, department and agencies. The competency test on teachers was simply a smokescreen to cover up the ultimate intentions of the state government who, as we have been credibly informed, already planned to sack about 30,000 workers under different guise.
“While it is not true that protesting workers caused damage to the property of the state House of Assembly, we wish to make it clear that we are aware that soon after workers left the premises of the state House of Assembly, allegedly sponsored thugs and hoodlums were sent there by the state government to cause damage to the property with the intention to blackmail workers as unruly people.
….assembly properties vandalised by protesters – Speaker
The Nigeria Labour Congress ( NLC ), President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba on Wednesday led workers on streets protest in Kaduna State capital, against plan by the state government to sack 21,780 teachers.
Meanwhile, the protest which terminated at the state House of Assembly left some properties within the assembly complex destroyed.
The protesting workers demanded that, the government should rescind its decision or have the entire labour force to contend with.
Marching and singing anti government song along major roads in the state capital, and carrying placards with various inscriptions, the workers asked the Kaduna state government not to sack the teachers for failing to pass the competency test administered on them sometime in June this year.
They argued that government has no constitutional powers to organize such exam for teachers, saying only the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) has the mandate to do so.
They also gave the state government two weeks to cancel the planned dismissal of teachers, or they will embark on an indefinite strike.
Addressing the workers, Mr, Waba assured them that the leadership of the NLC will support them and ensure that they get what they deserve from the state government.
The Nation gathered that, the protest was jointly organised by the state chapters of Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) and National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE).
It was also gathered that, NULGE and NUT leaders from 18 states in the North came in solidarity with their colleagues in Kaduna.
The local government employees, were said to be protesting against the planned sack of about 4000 of their members.
While the protest was going on in the city center, hundreds of school children were said to have been mobilised at Mararaban Rido where they blocked Kachia road, leaving commuters plying the Kaduna – Kachia road stranded for a long period.
However, the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Hon. Aminu Abdullahi Shagali confirmed the destruction of some assembly properties by the protesting workers.
The Speaker in his official twitter handle, #Rt. Hon Speaker KADAssembly twitted some photographs and videos of the vandalised properties.
One of the Speaker’s tweets read that, “The NUT protesters are destroying properties of the Kaduna State House of Assembly.
“The gate of the Kaduna State House of Assembly was destroyed by the protesters against the sack of unqualified primary school teachers”, the Speaker said.
The Nation recall that the state chapter of NUT had on Monday issued a two weeks ultimatum to Governor Nasir El-Rufai to rescind his government’s decision to sack the 21,780 primary teachers who failed the competency test or face indefinite strike.
Primary school pupils had also been used in that past two days to protest that government’s decision.
Meanwhile, the state government had maintained its resolved to sack the 21,780 teachers who failed the competency test, while it has since commenced process to recruit 25,000 new teachers to replace those to be sacked.
