Kebbi State Governor, Comrade Nasir Idris, has said his administration does not owe teachers, workers or pensioners salary arrears, pensions or gratuities, attributing the achievement to what he described as leadership by example.
Idris spoke on Tuesday at the ongoing 59th (8th Quadrennial) National Conference of Delegates of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) at the International Conference Centre in Enugu.
The governor said his administration had maintained an up-to-date payment system for workers’ salaries, pensions, gratuities and death benefits across the state, local government areas and local government education authorities.
“We are really doing something different in Kebbi State about the growth of education and the welfare of teachers.
“We don’t owe salaries, we don’t owe pensions, and we don’t owe gratuity,” he said.
Idris said his administration had also absorbed more than 5,000 professional workers, including teachers, medical personnel and lawyers, into the permanent civil service as part of efforts to end casualisation.
He added that about 6,144 civil servants, including teachers and health workers, had been recruited to strengthen the state’s workforce.
Describing primary education as the foundation of societal development, Idris said he had consistently advocated improved welfare and status for teachers.
He said teachers should not be treated as second-class workers, adding that increased budgetary allocations had been used to support structural reforms in the education sector.
According to him, the government had constructed, renovated or furnished more than 2,000 schools and provided thousands of pieces of furniture for pupils and teachers.
“We want to ensure our children remain in school. We no longer want out-of-school children in our communities and streets. That’s why we have done the lot we are doing in Kebbi to stem it,” he said.
Reflecting on his emergence as governor, Idris said some people had questioned how a teacher could govern a state.
“But the workers ensured that I became the governor. I know I have not disappointed the workers and the people of Kebbi State,” he said.
The governor said his background as a teacher had influenced his administration’s policies, including the decision to extend the years of service for teachers from 35 to 40.
He added that the years of service for doctors had also been extended, while similar reforms would be considered for other sectors.
Idris reiterated that the state owed no salary arrears, pensions or gratuities to teachers, workers or pensioners.
Earlier, the NUT National President, Comrade Audu Amba, raised concerns over the Federal Government’s proposed concession of King’s College, Lagos, to the King’s College Old Boys’ Association under a public-private partnership arrangement.
Amba described the proposal as a departure from the principle of public education and warned that it could affect teachers’ employment security, professional autonomy and workplace rights.
He called for the immediate suspension and reversal of the proposal, alongside meaningful consultations with key stakeholders, including teachers and parents.
The NUT president also criticised what he described as inadequate government funding for education, saying allocations at both federal and state levels had remained below internationally recommended benchmarks.
He said many states had also failed to access their counterpart funds from the Universal Basic Education Commission for the provision of school infrastructure and instructional materials.
Amba urged the Federal Government to work with stakeholders, particularly state governments, to implement approved welfare packages and incentives for teachers.
Among the measures he advocated were a special salary scale for teachers in basic and secondary schools, the reintroduction of bursary awards for education students, a special teachers’ pension scheme, clear career pathways and affordable housing for teachers in rural communities.
He also called for loan facilities for agriculture, housing, cars and motorcycles, as well as free tuition and automatic admission for the biological children of teachers.
The conference, themed “Deployment of Technology and Artificial Intelligence in Education Will Erode the Place of Teachers in the Classroom: Myth or Reality?”, is scheduled to end on 30 September.
