Enugu teachers bicker over 13-month salary arrears

[SunNews]

•Pay cheques are ready –Commissioner

By SAM OTTI

Scores of teachers in Enugu State took to the streets recently to protest the non-payment of their 13 months salaries. The aggrieved workers, mostly primary school teachers, employed under the Volunteer Teachers Scheme VTS in March, 2012, shut down schools over government's failure to pay their monthly stipend of N18,000.

Looking impoverished, the teachers, in their thousands accused the  Chime administration of neglecting their welfare and degrading the status of the teaching profession.Some of the volunteer teachers and pensioners, told Education Review they had licked their wounds in silence for long.  The penurious state of retired teachers, who were lured back to the classroom by the state government under the VTS with the promise of N18,000 monthly stipend, was enough to break Pharaoh's heart.

Investigation by our reporter revealed that the non-payment of their salaries, since the commencement of the programme in March last year, has drained their zeal for the teaching profession and incurred the contempt of their family members.

Some of the teachers in rural communities said their pitiable condition had earned them a nickname, 'Ndi Oru Akwu Ugwo ( Those who work without salary). This is against the fact that the appointment letters of volunteers, dated March 15, 2012, signed by G.N Iloha for the Executive Secretary, read: "I am directed to inform you that you were successful at the recent interview for applicants of the Enugu State Volunteer Teachers' Scheme. You will be paid a monthly stipend of eighteen thousand naira (N18,000) for the duration of the scheme".

Looking frustrated and depressed, some of the teachers said the sad incident also brought untold hardship, sickness and death on their colleagues in different parts of the state. One of the victims, Mr. Alloysius Aruma, a father of six,  who couldn't hold the forte any longer, was the latest victim. He slumped and died on March 5, 2013. Aged 67, he taught at PPS Ukpabi, Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area before his death.

Gloomy faces welcomed our reporter, when he visited the bereaved family at Ebor Nimbo, about 15 kilometres from Nsukka.  One of his daughters, Ukamaka, said his late dad literally died in tears, as he narrated how he wept profusely before he gave up the ghost. According to her, he slumped in the farm, as he was about having his meal and efforts made to revive him failed. He passed away a few hours later, with a river of tears, flowing down his eyes.

Although the late Aruma's tears at the hour of death shocked his family, some of his fellow teachers said their poor treatment by successive governments was enough to make even the gods weep.

While mourning his fallen colleague, one of the teachers, Dieke Enejere, said the late Aruma was among the pensioners in the state that died in penury after serving the state for years. According to him, thousands of primary school teachers in the area that retired since 2001 have been reduced to rags as the state government denied them their gratuity and arrears of pension allowances. He said retired teachers in the state had to spend two years on the waiting list before they start collecting their N14,013 monthly pension.

"I was borrowing money with the hope that the arrears would be paid in bulk. But it was a big disappointment that the government didn't pay us half of the money or even one-third, but one twelfth (1/12). My wife cried when I brought the money home because we owed many people huge sums of money. The money we collected from associations was yielding huge interests as well", he added.

Enejere said the failure of the government to pay these entitlements left retired teachers broken-hearted, dragging several of them to their graves. According to him, no fewer than 100 teachers have died within the period in the 17 local government areas of the state without their pension or gratuity.

To worsen their case, Enejere said some of the teachers who had obtained loans to sustain their families had no means of payment and had to forfeit their property to banks and other financial institutions. He accused the state government of impoverishing primary school teachers in the area, noting that the late Aruma had at several times collected overdraft from the pension's office to attend to urgent family needs.

Enejere, a father of 12, said his family passed through the furnace of affliction, such that he took up basket making for sale in local markets to save the worsening situation.

"We believed that the government would pay us the salary, as agreed. This prevented us from doing other things to get money. You could imagine the disappointment waiting for salary for 14 months but nothing came. Some of us have stopped going to school because the government has not paid us even a dime," he said.

It was the same tale of woes in schools across all the local government areas of the state, as teachers recounted how they borrowed money from banks or sold off their prized possessions for the upkeep of their families.

One of the teachers at Community Primary School, Amoji-Nike 2, Enugu East LGA, Ilo Chizoba, demonstrated rare courage during this tough period. Although she was pregnant at the time, she spent her days and weeks with pupils in nursery school without any salary. The NCE graduate from Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education (AOCOED), Otto/Ijanikin, Lagos said she was rewarded with only N500 by the headmistress, Mrs. Onoyima Ngozi during the closing activities of last term.

To add to her burden, Ilo was delivered of a baby girl, Chinonyerem (God be with me) on May 10, 2013. Although she cheerfully welcomed our reporter to her one-room apartment in Abakpa, a suburb of the Coal City, her worries were never hidden.  She told our reporter that working without salary made the cross of the teaching profession heavier than imagined.

"Some people advised me to stop going to school when the salary was not coming. But I couldn't, due to the strong affection I have for the pupils in my class. I love teaching. Apart from teaching the pupils in the nursery section, I also clean them up, bathe them and do other menial jobs," she said.

At Union Primary School, Agbamere, Eha-Alumona, Nsukka Local Government Area, one of the volunteer teachers, Ogbuefi Wilfred Odo, said the non-payment of salary affected the productivity of the workers. The 68-year-old pensioner threatened to quit the job if the state government failed to honour its financial obligation within the next few months.

"Since we were employed on March 15, 2012, the Enugu State Government has not paid us our salary. In March, we went to Enugu to register our grievances on this non-payment of salaries. The chairman of the board was not there and the permanent secretary promised to pay us from March, but since then, we have not heard anything. I'm finding things very difficult because I have some children who are in institutions of higher learning. I depend solely on this money for their school fees and other things needed in their school, but look at the situation now."

Ogbuefi Odo said it would be difficult to expect high level of commitment from a hungry teacher, as he urged the government to pay the salaries without further delay. "A hungry man is an angry man. You don't expect  a teacher to keep teaching when he has not been paid.  He will not be happy. And he will not have the strength to teach when payment of his salaries is not guaranteed. The most annoying thing is our secondary school counterpart with whom we were employed the same day have been paid up to date while ours is still hanging," he sai.

At Premier Primary School, Eha-Alumona, also in Nsukka Local Government, the story was quite pathetic. The headmistress, Mrs. Cecilia Ugwu, said regular teachers had to donate part of their salaries to provide breakfast for their colleagues daily. Out of the four teachers posted to her school, none of them has absconded. Though only three were present when our reporter visited the area, the headmistress said the fourth teacher took ill and was not in school.

One of the teachers, Mr. Abonyi Francis, said the poor treatment of teachers was a grave injustice to the nation's education sector. Hr said , "Because the state government has not paid us, I have been surviving on the regular teachers of this school. They have continued to lend us money, especially when we are sick. They give us loan even though we don't know when we'll repay," he said.

"We will find out from the government if they want us again in the system. If they say they don't want us again, then we will go. If they cannot pay us, then we will go out and find other means of survival. Meanwhile, we will continue to work," he said.

For love of children,  the 63-year-old teacher said the couldn't turn his back on the school. "We can't be happy if we leave, the children will be stranded. I retired on January 14, 2010 and I still have the strength to continue teaching."

Another volunteer teacher in the school, Mr. Ugwu Matthew Chukwuma, said the non-payment of the salaries had reduced him to ruins.

Hear him: "I have been encountering a lot of problems, especially when I am sick. I don't have money to take care of myself. I keep borrowing to take care of my family with the hope that government will pay me. But since then, government has not paid me anything. It has been very difficult for me and my family. Since the state government doesn't want to pay me, the only person I cry to is the Almighty God for Him to help us out."

Ugwu, aged 67, said his patience has been over-stretched by government's insensitivity to their plight. He threatened to quit the job if the state fails to pay at the end of this month.

Another volunteer teacher in the school, Mr. Aaron Ugwuoke, lamblasted the government for making empty promises. "When we went to Enugu the other day, they told us they were going to pay. Since then, they have continued to postpone the payment. Up till now, they have not paid us. Since then, I have continued to borrow money from my relatives to sort out my financial problems. Three weeks ago, I went to the hospital. They charged me N17,000. I came back to the school and borrowed money from the permanent teachers here. So, it has been very difficult for me. The only thing now is to get the clearance that they are going to pay us. If they will pay us, I am ready to work for the next 10 years. If they are not, I will quit and look for something to help me and my family."

The Headmistress, Mrs. Ugwu, said the teachers were diligent in their work, contrary to speculations that they were redundant workers.

Her words: "They are dedicated to their work, even though they have not been paid their salary for one month since 14 months now. They are doing well in class and the government doesn't want to pay them. They do what I tell them to do in my school. They are very obedient. Sometimes I call my teachers, we contribute money and give them to buy food. I appeal to the state government to please pay them their salaries. They are already old and they have children to take care for."

There is no doubt that the enthusiasm that earlier greeted the Volunteer Teachers' Scheme has given way to despair. Out of the eight volunteer teachers posted to Community Primary School, Orba Udenu LGA, only one was present when our reporter visited the area.

One of them, Ichie Augustine Odo, told our reporter that the delay in payment of their salaries has made life miserable for teachers and their families. Aside his inability to pay his children's school fees, Odo said the ugly situation imposed austere measures on members of his family.

"Honestly, it has affected my family negatively. Sometimes my children's school fees will not be paid. Sometimes we will not even have food in my family. I have been borrowing money from my friends and even fellow teachers, without hope of payment," he said.

While some of the teachers counted themselves lucky for teaching in nearby schools, Miss Okanya Celestina is carrying  a bigger cross. Teaching at Community Primary School, Ovoko Iheaka in Igbo-Eze South LGA cost her N200 transportation fare every day.

Since she took up appointment on March 15, 2012, she had been spending from her purse, with the hope that the government would pay the stipulated monthly salary. Her parents, who had joyously celebrated her appointment now blush in disappointment.

Teachers in Community Primary School 1, Amoji Nike, also had their own sad experiences. Out of pity for their suffering colleague, the teachers make voluntary donations to support the volunteer teacher, Onaga Ebere.

Although Onaga was not in the school when our reporter visited the area, the headmistress, Mrs. Igwe Catherine, described her as a dedicated staff and urged the government to pay their salaries without further delay.

Listening to Mr. Abonyi Francis, Mrs. Happiness Urama, Mr. Ikezieani Jude and several other teachers, as they opened the book of lamentations, chronicling the severe hardships they passed through for government's failure to pay their salaries brought tears to one's eyes.

Worried by the poor condition of their members, the Chairman, Nigeria Union of Teachers, (NUT) Enugu State, Comrade Chukwumaife Pius Nze, described the situation as pathetic. He said the union had made repeated appeals to the government for the payment of the salaries.

"To clear all doubts, we know invariably that whoever has been employed as a teacher deserves her wages. We have presented the matter to the state government. These young men and women, including the retired teachers that were employed under the scheme should be paid. I was reliably informed by one of the teachers that he had gotten an alert. They have started paying them. In my May Day address as the Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress NLC in the state, I also appealed to the government. It is pathetic," he said.

Aside the hardship foisted on the teachers by the non-payment of salaries for the period, speculations went viral in the state that the government has resolved to scrap the programme. But the Commissioner for Education, Dr. Simon Ortuanya, debunked the claim, saying there was no plan to phase out the scheme.

The commissioner said salaries were delayed due to administrative bottlenecks arising from working out the modalities of payment between the state and local government. He said the salaries were ready, promising that the affected teachers would receive credit alerts from their banks within the week.

According to him, primary school teachers fell within the local government authority, such that the state had to sort out the payment plan with the councils.   Although Ortuanya had promised payment of the salaries within the week, further investigation revealed that the teachers were later paid their one -month salary for the month of April, leaving behind 12 months backlog.

With their loins girded for battle, it is obvious that the sweet-nothings of government officials would not persuade Enugu teachers to retrace their warring step. Long days of austerity measures have taught them not to take politicians by their words.  Perhaps, only the instant payment of their salaries would soothe their nerves and win them back to the classroom.

Via: Sun News Online

[Folami David]

I don't know why state governments always love to punish teachers in their several states. They'll just lose interest in the job.