ABDULRAHMAN A. ABDULRAUF looks at the various promises made to Ekiti teachers by the governorship candidates ahead of next month’s election, asking them to read well between the lines
Ekiti is a state known for its higher educational attainment, hence the appellation-the fountain of knowledge. A lot of value is placed on education by any administration that seeks to make the right impact in the lives of the people. and with just less than one month to the governorship election, the three major political parties and their candidates are beginning to make an issue out of teachers’ welfare.
At different times and in different ways, the candidates have promised the teachers a better or improved welfare under their administrations. It is a combination of the reality and absurdity. And suddenly, it became a contentious issue between the ruling party and those in the opposition. Specifically, the duos of former Governor Ayodele Fayose and Hon. Michael Opeyemi Bamidele, member House of Representatives of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) and Labour Party(LP) respectively, both alleged the teachers’ fortunes had nosedived under the ruling All Progressives Congress (A{PC)-led government of John Kayode Fayemi(JKF).
For instance, Fayose at a rally organized by Coalition of Ekiti Youth for Fayose in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, promised to restore teachers’ glory allegedly trampled upon by the Fayemi administration, saying they didn’t get what they deserved from government.
While underscoring his respect for teachers in the state, Fayose, who governed the state between 2003 and 2006 said he so much valued Ekiti teachers, claiming “they are now humiliated by the APC government.” He further said it was the same teachers he “used to transform the education and returned Ekiti to the first position in WAEC and NECO examinations in South West as opposed to the 36th position I met the state in 2003 when I took over from Niyi Adebayo.”
Recalling some of his activities as the state chief executive, the former governor said that to raise the status of teachers, he created the office of Tutor-General, elevated teachers’ day to a carnival and rewarded excellence, assuring that “I will do more to make teachers happy and comfortable. Cases of victimisation will be looked into.
“But I am appealing to the teachers to go and collect their voter’s cards. The card is your only weapon to return me as your governor.”
And from Bamidele, the LP’s standard bearer, the teachers were assured of no compulsory assessment test for teachers in public schools. He spoke at a meeting with officials of the state chapter of the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT).
Rather than subject them to compulsory aptitude test, the LP candidate said he would build their professional capacity through training, re-training and also exposure to current global trends and developments in teaching profession.
Speaking during the visit described by the NUT state chairman, Comrade Kayode Akosile as homecoming, he pledged: “As a governor, I won’t subject you to a compulsory test. It is not that you can’t write examinations and pass, but it must not be at the insistence of the state governor.
“My role as a governor will not be to forcefully examine you. My role will be to encourage you and expose you to contemporary global developments in your profession by training and re-training you”.
“As teachers, we shall give you confidence and professional esteem. We shall appreciate you as builders of the society because no nation exits without teachers.
“This confidence has been eroded over the years. We shall revisit the non-payment of the 27.5% increment of pecuniary allowances for teachers being owed by the current administration,” the lawmaker further added.
The lawmaker further promised to go beyond the minimum standard for education budget for state governments by evolving more on context and character in the sector. To achieve this, Bamidele assured that teachers can never be left out, in terms of their welfare and job satisfaction.
But the APC candidate was quick in response, saying it had put in place lasting and robust welfare packages to motivate teachers in the discharge of their duties. The governor who spoke through his campaign organization, noted that the packages were responsible for the noticeable improvement in the education sector from the doldrums it used to be to a place of pride and gradual turn-around.
The organization listed the incentives to include; 20 percent teachers rural allowance to incentivize teachers deployed to rural areas, 20 percent core subjects allowance, teachers housing scheme.
It said: “First-ever loan scheme for primary school teachers, distribution of laptops to teachers, 27.5 percent Teachers Salary Structure (TSS) and capacity building training which has produced the best teacher in Nigeria consecutively in 2012 and 2013.
“The deliberate and first-of-its-kind education programmes of the Fayemi administration are responsible for the increase in the success rate of the state in the Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (SSCE) from 22 percent in 2010 to 70 percent in 2013, winner of the 2013 edition of the national essay-writing competition of the All Nigeria Confederation of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS), first in the annual National Mathematics competition organized by the National Mathematics Association of Nigeria, amongst many.”
By this, the organisation asserted, Fayemi administration was able to turn around the education sector due to “fool-proof and flexible policies seeped in deep thinking and careful planning done by Ekiti eggheads brought together at the inception of this administration in an education stakeholders’ summit.”
“The Fayemi administration in 2011 reversed the scrapping of the office of Tutor-General carried out by a previous PDP administration in the state by appointing three tutors-general to superintend over the three senatorial districts in the state. The three were later promoted to the position of permanent secretaries in 2013.
“Little wonder, Fayemi administration was able to attract the attention of the international community through a grant of 50 million dollars from the World Bank to restore education to its enviable heights in the state,” the organization.
Responding to certain claims by Fayose, the APC said “contrary to claims by the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Ayodele Fayose, that the Fayemi administration had not been fair to teachers, the present administration had done more for teachers than in all the years from 1996 when the state was created till 2010 when Dr. Kayode Fayemi took over the mantle of leadership.”
Fayemi also stated that the salary package of teachers in the state under his administration, had tripled as against the Fayose era when there was no increase in salaries for almost four years.
it’s a good thing that all the candidates have come up to show what they have done and what they can do for teachers in the state. Observers however believe that the teachers should as informed minds, be able to discern between the reality and absurdity of these promises. Their decision and indecision, will certainly have effect on what becomes of them in the next four years, else they become a mere pawn in the political chess of the state.
