TheCable

Teachers in Nasarawa state have told the Tanko Al-Makura-led government to meet their demands before the ongoing strike can be suspended.

Francis Jatau, chairman of the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) in Nasarawa, said this in an interview with NAN in Lafia, the state capital, on Sunday.

He said that past experiences with the state government had taught them a lesson hence the need to ensure that all demands were met before the teachers would resume work.

“We don’t want to be seen as people who like to go on strike. That is why we will ensure that our demands are fully met to the satisfaction of our members,” he said.

“We urge everyone to be patient with us while we find a lasting solution to our demands.”

Jatau appealed to the federal government to intervene in the non-payment of their salaries, saying for over eight months, teachers in the state have been receiving salaries in percentages.

He said the situation had compelled the teachers to initiate a dialogue with the state government on how to end the percentage-payment trend.

Jatau, however, said government refused to honour the teachers’ demand to stop payment in percentages across the state.

“We even agreed that if a month’s allocation cannot pay a month salary, they should merge two months allocation received from the federation account to pay one month full salary,” he said.

“We know the economic situation we are in and we are ready to sacrifice but they refused and kept paying in percentages, a situation we cannot continue to tolerate.”

He said government also refused the teachers’ demand that their salaries be transferred from the ministry of local government affairs to the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB).

He said the demand for the transfer was to curtail unnecessary deductions.

On the threat to replace the striking teachers, Jatau said that was nothing to bothered about.

“If government had called for dialogue, we would have listened but government failed to do so,” he said.

He urged the teachers to remain at home pending further directives from the union on the next line of action.

The teachers embarked on an indefinite strike on June 1.

They are demanding for an end in the payment of their salaries in percentages and the transfer of their salaries from the ministry of local government affairs to SUBEB.