Press Releases

LASG Appeals To Striking Teachers To Return To The Classroom

Mar 2, 2009 - Lagos State Government on Monday reiterated its appeal to striking teachers in the state to call off the action and return to the classrooms in the interest of the children, saying the state government on its part would continue to do its utmost to ensure an improvement in the welfare of teachers.

The State Government’s appeal was made by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Opeyemi Bamidele while briefing reporters on a shift in date of the launch of the re-introduction of uniformed voluntary organizations in Lagos Public Schools during a break by the State Executive Council at Lagos House, Ikeja. The indefinite postponement of the event earlier scheduled for Tuesday (today), was due to the ongoing strike by teachers

According to Mr. Bamidele, the state is the only state that can be said not to have retrenched anyone in the last seven and half years and does not have any plans to do so.

Said he: “We do not want to have to start thinking of retrenching workers because we have to respond to ultimatums. We do not want a situation where because we have to pay a certain form of allowance of bonus, we start thinking of reducing our strength. It would be our last option”.

He called on the leaders of the National Union of Teachers and other labour leaders in the state to work with the Government to ensure that it is not constrained to retrench workers.

Continuing, Mr Bamidele said: “From time to time we will restructure, but retrenchment of workers has never been within our contemplation and this administration is committed to ensuring this does not happen, but we need the cooperation of the leaders of the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) as well as other labour leaders in the state.”

He informed that the state has held series of meetings with various leaders and has put in place another committee to further negotiate with the teachers.

Mr. Bamidele added that whatever will be done would be in the best interest of the children and the overriding public interest and best interest of the teachers as an integral part of the state workforce.

“We have all the respect for them. We appreciate what they are doing. They are major stakeholders. We also encourage them as stakeholders to see how best we can resolve this issue without having to reduce our work strength. Government can only do much, There is no magic to it”, Mr. Opeyemi Bamidele added.

Opeyemi also said: “We run a government that is constitutionally entitled to a certain amount of money coming from the Federal Government on a monthly basis as Federal allocation while also demonstrating a capacity to generate funds internally even though the internally generated revenue is not limitless. There is a limit to how much we can generate in a month”.

He reiterated that the state has come to the conclusion that it will do whatever it thinks is in the best interest of the greater number of the citizenry.

“It is not just about teachers, it is about medical doctors, civil servants and other categories of the workforce. It is about putting medication and drugs in our hospitals. It is also about ensuring that emergency room runs. It is about ensuring that ICU and other critical elements do not get paralyzed.

It is about ensuring the policing of the state and ensuring safety of life and property. It is about ensuring that every responsibility of government is discharged. One is not going to wait for the other. We have to see within our limited resources what else can we accommodate. That is the issue”, the Commissioner further highlighted.

The Commissioner also said: “We started with the judiciary; today the condition of service is much better than it ever was. We have also just approved a special welfare package for the health sector and are doing similar things in other sectors”.

Mr. Opeyemi emphasized that the strike issue is one that can be resolved, but that people should realize that it is not just about paying teachers’ salaries which is essential and important, but about other social responsibility that cannot and must not suffer.