NLC Shuts Down Kaduna Over Planned Sack Of Teachers

BY AMOS TAUNA, KADUNA – Following the decision by the Kaduna State Government to sack no fewer than 21, 000 teachers who failed to score 75 percent in the test administered on them, thousands of the affected teachers poured into the streets to protest the planned sack.

Led by the President of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Ayuba Waba, other civil servants joined their counterparts, who marched to the Kaduna State House of Assembly to register their protest.

The NLC president said the competency test used as excuse to sack the teachers lacked credibility and was unacceptable.

He told workers in the state to unite and confront the situation and save themselves from “this agony”, adding that; “It was a smokescreen to just sack workers.’’

According to Waba, legitimate institutions mandated to organise such examinations were ignored by the government, noting that; “Teaching is a profession in Nigeria, we have teachers’ training institutions and Teachers Registration Council, why are they not the ones conducting the test?

“This is because they have sinister motives; that is why they didn’t use those institutions. “They are doing this just to sack and reduce workers and we will not accept that,’’ the NLC president said.

“Any exercise built on faulty ground cannot stand; this is our position,’’ he stressed. Waba alleged that the state government also plans to sack 15,000 core civil services and 5,000 local government workers.

“By putting all together and their families, up to one million people will be affected by the sack. We will not accept that. Therefore we will stand against this exercise until justice is done,’’ he said.

Labour leaders had started converging in Kaduna since Monday for what they claimed would end up being the mother of all rallies. As at time of filing this report, the rally was still ongoing.