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Bashiru Apapa, Oyo
state chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress, has chided Governor
Adebayo Alao-Akala for reportedly saying that he would not break the
bank to pay the new teachers’ enhanced salary scale.

The labour boss
spoke with journalists in Ibadan, the state capital on Monday, in
reaction to the governor’s comment which he described as
“uncomplimentary.” Teachers in public primary and secondary schools in
the state have being at daggers drawn with the government over its
refusal to pay the new salary structure. For the last three weeks, no
effective work went on in the state’s public schools as teachers have
embarked on warning strike every Wednesday and also put on black attire
to register their displeasure over the government’s insensitivity to
their plight.

Blaming the hard
stand of the government on the poor performance of the state’s students
in graduating examinations, the teachers have threatened to embark on a
total strike if the government refuses to reconsider its stand by the
end of this week. The governor did not only deny recognising the NUT in
the state, he also said that the state’s finances would not enable
government pay the money, saying, he would not break the bank to
satisfy the teachers.

Unbecoming statement

Mr. Apapa, said the
statement was unbecoming of a state governor. “That a state governor
could make such a statement is uncalled for, unfortunate and
misguided,” he said. According to him, since the teachers are employees
of the state and are not begging for the money, they needed to be well
compensated for the services rendered to the state. “If the governor is
not breaking banks to construct road and to pay allowances, I think if
he decides to break bank to pay the salary of teachers, it is not too
much,” he said. “If he decides to do that on his own he can go ahead
and break the bank because that statement should not be attributed to a
state governor.”

He said the state government was not playing his role effectively,
adding that Oyo State is among the only four defaulting in the
implementation of the new wage structure in the country. “We are
surprise that the state government is now foot dragging. We are not
happy; we expected the state government to have complied before now,”
he said.