Governors Begin to Fault Buhari on New Salary Scale for Teachers
Governors in Nigeria have expectedly begun to raise issues over the announcement of the federal government to raise teachers’ salaries and general welfare.
Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, on Monday faulted President Muhammadu Buhari’s 5th October declaration that teachers in Nigeria will be paid enhanced salaries.
Wike was quoted by his commissioner for information and communication, Paulinus Nsirim, to have accused the federal government of imposing fresh financial burdens on states without consultation.
A Nigerian Governors Forum’s secretariat staff told our reporter that Wike’s position is reflective of the general feeling among all state governors in Nigeria.
Wike was said to have spoken when the board of the College of Medical Sciences of the Rivers State University visited him at Government House, Port Harcourt on Monday.
Wike, while speaking on the new salary scales approved for teachers by the federal government, said it was good to give teachers special attention because of their strategic roles in the society, but it was not the sole prerogative of the federal government to impose such a policy without thinking over how it would be properly implemented.
He said rather than help the educational system, the federal government’s pronouncement on a new salary scale for teachers would create crisis for states.
“Instead, the Federal Government is imposing a new financial burden on the States without consulting them. While it is good to give teachers a new salary scale, it is also important not to politicise such a sensitive issue”.
Nigerian Sketch had reported that in addition to salary adjustment, the federal government approved that graduates of Education will henceforth be automatically employed by the government in Nigeria
In addition, the president also approved the free tuition fee and automatic admission to the biological children of teachers, while equally directing that teachers’ salaries should be reviewed upward.
To cap it up, the president increased the service years for teachers from 35 to 40 years, all in an attempt to encourage teachers in delivering better service in their respective areas of assignment.
Nigerian Sketch had also noted that the minister of education who announced the good tidings for the teachers did not “disclose when these directives will begin to take effect, as details have remained scanty on modalities for the automatic employment as well as the increase in salaries.
“It is equally yet to be clear if the upward review of salaries will affect teachers who teach in state government schools.
“There are also concerns about the fate of teachers in privately owned schools.”