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Angry workers disrupt education stakeholders’ workshop in Oyo

By Muyiwa Adeyemi and Iyabo Lawal
02 June 2016   |   3:00 am
Workers in Oyo state yesterday disrupted the education stakeholders meeting organized by the state government to deliberate on the privatization of public schools.
Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Oyo State Chapters protesting at the education stakeholders’ forum held at the Old Western-Hall/Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan…yesterday PHOTO: NAJEEM RAHEEM

Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Oyo State Chapters protesting at the education stakeholders’ forum held at the Old Western-Hall/Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan…yesterday PHOTO: NAJEEM RAHEEM

• Ekiti PDP faction apologises over failure to pay salaries
• NANS denies participating in anti workers protest
• Fayose seeks end to strike

Workers in Oyo state yesterday disrupted the education stakeholders meeting organized by the state government to deliberate on the privatization of public schools.

The workers, who carried placards with anti-government slogans chased away the participating top government officials as well as clerics, school proprietors and alumni of the concerned schools out of the Western Hall, venue of the event.

Led by Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Chairman Comrade Waheed Olojede, Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), chairman, Ademola Aremu, Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of Ibadan Branch, Deji Omole, and other leaders of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), the angry workers demanded the reversal of the proposed plan to privatise schools, saying it is anti-people and against the vision of the Premier of the defunct Western Region, Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

The state government had said the handling over of about 30 secondary schools out of the over 600 government secondary schools in the state was necessitated by the call of former owners of the schools to run them.

However, the workers argued that they were not involved in the whole process, which they described as against the United Nations recommendation on education.

Special Adviser to the Governor on Communication and Strategy, Yomi Layinka said that as a governor elected on the popular mandate of the people, Governor Abiola Ajimobi would not take any decision that would be against the overriding interest of the public.

Meanwhile in Ekiti State, a faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with Williams Sunday Ajayi as chairman yesterday apologised to the striking workers and teachers for the non-payment of their five months salaries by the state government.

The Ajayi-led state PDP executive was declared as the legally recognised one by the ruling of a Federal High Court, Ado Ekiti in a suit marked FHC/AD/CS/21/2016 in a ruling delivered by Justice Taiwo Taiwo on May 15.

In a related development, the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) in a statement by its chairman, Comrade Cosmas Awopeju in Ado Ekiti, distanced itself from the protest staged by concerned trade unions in the state on Tuesday.

Governor Fayose yesterday appealed to the workers to call off their strike to allow for dialogue.

Fayose in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Idowu Adelusi, said the salary for local government workers was ready for payment, with the little resources that have come to the state are ready for sharing but this cannot be done because civil servants who are disbursement of the funds are on strike.

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