ABUJA – The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) says it will soon direct its members to go on strike in states that have not paid teachers their monthly salaries for over two months.
Mr. Michael Olukoya, the President of the union, said this in an interview with newsmen in Abuja.
Olukoya said that the union would not fold its arms and watch state governments treat their members as second class citizens in their country.
He decried the attitude of the offending governments and said that the union was not going to take it lightly with them.
Such practice portends academic danger in those states as the teachers would not be motivated to do their best when teaching the students, he said.
He stressed that every worker deserved his wages, adding: “The working condition of a teacher is the learning condition of a child.”
‘Academic danger is looming in those states where salaries have not been paid and we will soon give directive to the affected states to immediately proceed on indefinite strike.
“If a teacher does not collect his or her salary, he or she cannot perform at optimum level.”
“In Nigeria, the full salary of a teacher is inadequate to meet his needs and and yet he is being owed; that’s not fair.”
It was gathered that Abia, Benue, Plateau, Bauchi and Kogi states are owing their primary school teachers’ salaries of more than two months.