From WOLE BALOGUN, Ado Ekiti
The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) has repeated its opposing stance to local government autonomy that would lead to the scrapping of joint local government account.
The NUT members, in a protest to the Ekiti State House of Assembly, complained bitterly against “the envisaged negative consequences on the management and funding of primary education in the country.”
In a letter addressed to the governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, signed by Comrade Michael Alogba Olukoya, National President and Comrade Mike Ike Ene, acting National Secretary, the NUT said its position draws from the experiences of between 1990 and 1994.
According to them at that time, “primary education came under the control of local governments, the school system witnessed poor funding and total neglect which led to industrial crises because the local government councils failed to accord primary education the priority of place it deserved.”
The teachers said “NUT is not totally against local government autonomy, but the union is concerned about the likelihood of scrapping the State Joint Local Government Account which would mean taking primary education back to the dark days of pre1994 era.”
At best, the teachers said when the National Assembly sets to resolve the local government autonomy issue, their salaries must be removed from the deal.
They said at a national executive council meeting of the NUT held early November, in Abakaliki, the management and funding of primary education was appraised and that they resolved to draw the attention of Nigerians and the House of Assembly to the development.
Following their protest, Ekiti NUT through its Chairman, Comrade Samuel Olugbesan said it “wishes to reaffirm its position and call that the state governments, in order to prevent the education sub-sector from imminent collapse, should not place primary education funding and management under any disguise of granting autonomy to local government council.”