Zulum suspends 42 teachers for absconding from duty

Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno state Wednesday recommended the
suspension of 42 primary school teachers for allegedly “absconding”
from their duty posts for two years in Gamboru Ngala local government
area of the state.


Umara, a former university teacher, made this known during the
Democracy Day celebration at the Ramat Square in Maiduguri, the state
capital.
He said during his tour of primary schools in Gamboru Ngala, he
discovered that 62 teachers were registered in the nominal role
whereas; only eleven of them were present.


“To my dismay, the head master said he has had only 11 teachers in the
school in the last two years.
”This is very obnoxious and I have directed the suspension of the 42
teachers who were not on ground,” he said.
He said he would not condone the culture of absenteeism, indolence,
indiscipline and nepotism in the public service adding that prudent
management of public funds, transparency and accountability must be
the guiding principles.


 Zulum said proactive modalities would be put in place towards
creating institutional framework for basic service delivery, to
address the high public expectations aimed at strengthening the
confidence of the people of the system.
“We will address the issues of security, poverty, unemployment,
quality education, infrastructure, health services among other things
that will positively impact on our lives. All these will invariably
depend on good governance in a democracy,” he said.


In his reaction, Jubril Muhammed, the Borno chairman of the Nigerian
Union of Teachers (NUT), said the teachers’ action was not a
deliberate act.
Muhammed stated that teachers in the state usually worked on a two-
week shifts agreement.
“The first sets of teachers were deployed to liberated councils while
those that are substituting them every two weeks are working in the
internally displaced camps of the LGAs in the city of Maiduguri.


“It is not possible for all the teachers to be on ground at the same
time because of the current challenges. We also lack adequate teachers
to carter for the educational services in both the LGAs and IDP camps
at the same time.
“Also, most of our teachers have lost everything including their means
of livelihood, citing lack of accommodation in the LGAs as another
challenge,” he said.
The chairman urged the governor to temper justice with mercy on his decision

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