TheCable

Thirty-seven teachers sacked from the Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education, Ijanikin, Lagos state, have pleaded with Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos, to save them from “starvation and untimely death”.

Gabriel Oguntuase, spokesman of the dismissed teachers, made the plea in an interview with NAN in Lagos on Sunday.

Oguntuase said the affected teachers were initially employed as staff of the institution but were later moved to teach in the primary and secondary schools section of the institution.

Oguntuase said their ordeal started in 2010 when their promotions were stopped.

“We wrote so many letters to the management on the matter, but we got no response. This continued until 2015 when our salaries were reduced by more than half, and all benefits due to us as statutory employees were taken away,” he said.

“From then onward, we were deprived of all allowances, including annual increment. Then, on May 2, 2019, the council and management of the institution terminated our employment, giving redundancy as the reason without following the rules.

“It is indeed unfit for a College of Education, which prides itself as a foremost teachers training institute in Nigeria, to expose its teachers to the kind of horrific experience we are undergoing.”

Oguntuase appealed to the governor to intervene and save them from “inhuman treatment”.

“We are teachers, and we are Nigerians. We don’t deserve the treatment we are getting from the management of Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education, Ijanikin,” he said.

“Where do we go from here, after using our youthful energy, giving the whole of our productive years to building and moulding lives? Ours should not be doomed to perpetual slavery and miseries.

“We have worked diligently between 10 and 27 years with letters of recommendation given to us by the management council of the school.

“We went to schools like every other professional, and we deserve every bit of our benefits.

“We have our appointment, confirmation and promotion letters duly signed by the college.

“AOCOED should not be allowed to take away what belongs to us. Please, our amiable governor, save us and our dependant from starvation and sudden death.”

He said the school authorities should have emulated the Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo, that moved all their teaching staff from the staff school to various departments and units in the college without slashing their salaries.