The wind of subsidy removal from the premium motor spirit in terms of currency devaluation, inflation, hike in the prices of commodities and food stuff, transportation costs and un-affordability of social and household needs is like a desert storm that spares no one, the rich and the poor.
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But by the inflexibility, monthly regimentation and fiscal restraints of their salaries teachers are the worst hit in the financial crunch that trails the subsidy removal.

Teachers in Nigeria have common historical experience in wage valuations and economic empowerment which are relatively poor from the focal point of their middle class cadre and their lowest class status today. The difference today is clear and distinct from the golden era when teachers were bread winners of extended families and guardians of many to schools and universities. But today the fate of teachers and teaching profession, based on extant phenomenological analysis, has undergone massive economic and capitalist regimentation that reduced them to mere objects of exploitation.

In the phenomenological praxis of man’s inhumanity to humanity the growth or evolution of the capitalist class is the downside of the working class which the teachers are the motive force. Their toil today had since once been announced by Francis Fukuyama and his co-western modernist and evolutionists who said that western capitalism is the end of civilization. This is true to the fact of teachers condition in Nigeria today whose wage is not a living wage but slave and subsistence wage.

The work and wage history of Nigerian teachers is therefore, the history of the growth of capitalism, exploitation, and slavery while deregulation and the removal of oil subsidy is the highest form of capitalism.

The historic cross road is worse for teachers save that the All progressive Grand Alliance government of Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, CFR is teachers government, a government of the teachers by the teachers and for the masses.

The Governor, during the 9th (7th Quadrennial) Conference of delegates of the Nigeria Union of Teachers, Anambra State wing, emphasized that “the nation is directionless without the services of teachers, “reiterated that  his government is a teachers government, that “one can predict the future of any nation when a cursory look is taken at the quality of teachers and teaching, that education and health are at the fulcrum and foundation of human development”, recalling how his government has been prioritising education, starting with the recruitment of five thousand teachers within the first nine months of coming to office.

He maintained that “teaching is a profession that should be dignified, as such teachers should not be recruited on the basis of who knows who, but on merit, and that “when the teachers stop learning, the society stops growing.”

There are now reforms on teachers minimum wage, retirement age and streamlining of miscellaneous payments that students are pressured to pay, with a major focus on public schools, limited data in schools and sundry issues affecting Anambra teachers. Responses target the total population including not only the teachers but also road transport workers, farmers, micro, small and medium entrepreneurs, traders, unemployed and underemployed, youths and vulnerable segments of the population.

To cushion the hardships caused by inflation and subsidy removal salaries of all public servants have been increased by 10% effective January 2023 with consequential adjustment since January 2023.

Progressive and dynamic changes from the old order are sweeping: Clearing the backlog of 4-year gratuity and pension arrears  of our pensioners, distributions of  rice to over 300,000 households across the 326 wards in Anambra, exemption of vulnerable persons from all forms of taxation/levies: hawkers; wheel barrow and truck pushers; vulcanizers; artisans, okada drivers; petty traders with capital of less than N100,000; etc.
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The IGR payments of all transporters —- Keke, Minibus, etc are hereby reduced by 20% with effect from September 01, 2023. Basic Education (primary school to JSS3) remain tuition free for all public schools. Free antenatal services and free delivery services to pregnant mothers in State primary health centres and general hospitals and more comprehensive Medicare for our residents, especially the senior citizens and children in our 2024 budget. And adverting communitarian ethos to the landlords to show empathy to their tenants at this challenging moment and consider easier options for rent payment.

Social and economic transformations of livelihood and the home land are on course: Master plan of action  on repair/renovation of all serviceable Public Servants Staff Buses currently under the office of the Head of Service of Anambra State to facilitate the movement of public servants. Purchase of many of the CNG-fueled buses to be provided by the Federal Government for intra-state transportation.

The aim is to reduce the cost of transportation within Anambra. Repair of existing and purchase of new water boats to ease transportation for our citizens in the riverine local governments. Distribution of a total of 1.1 million oil palm and coconut high yielding seedlings to over 100,000 households.

Distributions of one million seedlings per annum over several years in continuation of the revolution to create a new palm-coconut green/industrial ecosystem that will guarantee 500,000 – 1,000,000 households earning N1.5m to N3m per annum, thereby lifting them out of poverty, create wealth and earn foreign exchange for Nigeria and new industrial complex to process the products, thereby creating more jobs for our youths.

Among sundry social and fiscal responses are: Revolving loan scheme targeting over 100,000 micro businesses, at near zero interest rate.
Employment of  5,000 teachers and over 300 medical professionals within our first nine months in office plus thousands of youths in the security sector. Recruiting  further thousands of youths as teachers for our schools and road/street sweepers and engaging youths in public works/ build/modernize the primary health centres (PHCs) in all the 326 wards —- to let everyone have access to qualitative healthcare. Renovation/modernization of hundreds of primary schools and secondary schools. Project of rural water schemes to ensure that especially the poor have access to clean portable water.

The above responses are practically and comprehensively inclusive, horizontal and and vertical in the sense that  all economic classes (teachers included) are affected by the hyper inflation.

As the social and financial plague is systemic so also would be the social and economic responses. Within the context of the post-subsidy regime, both visual and physical modes of teaching should be employed to maximize space and time in the transmission and exchange of knowledge in the schools.

The ouster economic condition is a stimulant for novelties and critical pedagogy, an educational model that would build critical consciousness that would enable people to create changes in their lives, to cope with adversity, technological trends and global turn of events. But most importantly, the constructivist approach, the collaborative approach, the reflective approach, the integrative approach, and, the inquiry-based approaches should be taken more seriously.

Prof. Dukor is of the Department of Philosophy, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka.
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