Kuje sacks 1000 teachers in surprise New Year present
…NUT embarks on indefinite strike in protest.
Cyril Mbah, Abuja.
About 1030 primary school teachers in Kuje Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory [FCT] are still nursing what some described as the greatest shock of their lives after the incumbent administration of the council gifted them with surprise New Year presents containing letters unilaterally sacking them from duty with immediate effect for unknown reasons soon after being confirmed as permanent teaching staff.
However, the Nigerian Union of Teachers [NUT] has vowed that it will not accept the action and has promptly waded into the matter by declaring indefinite strike action against the Kuje Area Council demanding the immediate recall of the sacked workers before the industrial dispute will be resolved.
As of Friday last week, public primary schools in Kuje were under lock while pupils were seen roaming the streets, playing ball or hawking to help their parents.
Investigations showed that the sacked teachers were engaged by the immediate past All Progressives Congress [APC] administration headed by Alhaji Abdullahi Galadima as a political reward for supporting the party to win the chairmanship and councillorship elections in the area council.
The Peoples Democratic Party [PDP] administration headed by Alhaji Abdullahi Sabo, which defeated the APC in the February 2012 FCT chairmanship elections however declared the appointments as irregular and took action on the affected teachers while also blaming the APC administration for deliberately inflating the area council workforce without legal framework and financial backing.
Reacting to allegations of employing unqualified teachers for the council, the former media aide to Alhaji Galadima, Mr. Haruna Usman faulted the claims of the incumbent Kuje administration, and the reasons adduced for sacking the teachers.
He advised the chairman of the council to always seek and study the records left behind by previous administrations before embarking on rash decisions that would affect the livelihood of hundreds of families.
While defending the actions of the council, the Chief of Staff of Kuje, Alhaji Abdullahi Sabo Jnr said the affected teachers were only suspended temporally pending the conclusion of the ongoing investigation into the alleged recruitment racket of 2018 by the previous administration.
“The teachers were only suspended pending the outcome of what will come out of the probe going on now. When we came on board, we found out that the recruitments made by the former administration were done without following due process.
“It is wrong to employ a graduate and give him/her the salary of a grade 2 teacher. Besides, the vacancies as of 2018 were only 90 but the administration in office then employed 1030 people without formalising their employment through Executive Management Committee [EMC] approval.
“The EMC is the body that regulates matters affecting area councils in the FCT and the employment of 2018 did not pass through that process,” he stated.
While declaring the solidarity strike as illegal, the Chief of Staff also claimed that the teachers were duly paid before they were laid off stressing however that talks are ongoing with the leadership of the teachers to ensure that they call off their industrial action.
Metro