By Bassey Anthony, Uyo
Widows and relatives of retired primary school teachers in Akwa Ibom State have again protested the nonpayment of their entitlements summed up at over N5 billion naira.
The protesters who converged close to government house gates around 9:30 am amid the heavy downpour of rain were there till about 6:15 pm
They also came with drums and mats, an indication that they were not in a hurry to leave the place even as police officers were around the area to ensure maintenance of law and order.
Speaking with journalists under the rains, the Secretary of the Coalition, Mr. Benjamin Benson, said the State government was not sincere enough in keeping its promises even though it has commenced payment to some widows, adding that out of the total of 2000 widows screened and verified less than 100 have been paid.
He noted that the government has not succeeded in paying all the 1990 and 2000 categories.
According to Benson, “We are here today because you know that this government is not sincere enough to keep it promises over the years. All the verification exercises that they have carried out and up till today only few people have been paid.
“The total number of people verified and screened so far is closed to 2000 but they have paid less than 100 and we know if they are starting like this, it may take the life of this administration. The category of people they have paid so far is between 1990 and 2000 and not everyone in that category has been paid. So, today we decided to come and press further our demands.”
Reacting to Governor Emmanuel’s statement that payment of entitlements of retired Primary school teachers is not the responsibility of the state government, Benson asked what happened to the deductions they have been making from local government allocations over the years?
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“Over time this government has told us that they are deducting money from the local government allocations for this purpose, how much have they deducted so far?. Why are they bringing out less than 1% after the verification exercise.
“In all what the governor said was so provocative because at a point he tried to make fun out of it. He said he is also a next of kin and he should be leading the protest. This is different from what he told us when he was campaigning for the governorship position in 2015.
“This government said payment will be in batches, we expect the government to commit some money but what it has done so far, we cannot even call that first batch because if you have about 2000 people and you are paying less than 100 and you want us to think that that is the first batch?”
Also speaking a former leader of the Coalition, Mr Idongesit Akpan described the situation as tensed, adding that the state government has been promising retired teachers but failing to fulfil it promises.
“The situation is tensed up because all that government has been promising retired teachers has not been fulfilled. If the government has promised let the government fulfill its promise,” he said.
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