Edo NUT protests against transfer of teachers’ salaries to councils

• NAPS condemns ASUP strike
• State moves to re-integrate returnees from Europe, Libya
• Seeks Italy, EU, others’ support to sustain efforts

Primary school teachers in Edo State yesterday staged a peaceful demonstration at the state House of Assembly. They urged the house not to agree to the concession of payment of primary school teachers to local government areas.

The teachers, led by the state chairman of NUT, Iyalomhe Akhagbeme, said though they were not against the local council autonomy, but would not agree that the councils pay salaries of primary school teachers going by the bitter experiences in the past before it was reversed.

Also, the National Association of Polytechnic Students (NAPS) has said that the on-going strike by the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) was affecting their studies.

The NAPS, therefore, appealed to the Federal Government and ASUP to give room for dialogue and amicable resolution of the crisis.

The students’ body also restated its commitment to sustain the good fight against the dichotomy between B.Sc. and HND holders until the barrier is flushed out of the nation’s educational system in Nigeria.

Meanwhile, the Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki has said that the state has built formidable structures and systems to receive and re-integrate victims of human trafficking and illegal migration who are indigenes of the state.

Obaseki, who spoke at the international conference on Women Empowerment and the Fight Against Trafficking in Persons: Partnership Between Nigeria and Italy, organised by the President of Italian Chamber of Deputies, Laura Boldrini, in Rome, Italy, said the state government needs support to sustain its efforts and ensure that youths do not have reasons to embark on treacherous journeys.

He said: “We are spending a lot to reintegrate these young people into the society and we anticipate that the expenses would be more in the nearest future. We solicit support from the European Union, the Italian government as well as other countries affected by this menace to be able to sustain the structures we have set up in the state.

“All parties affected by the menace of human trafficking, both the countries of origin and the destination countries, stand to benefit from the system we have set up in Edo State to engage these youths, which would give them no reason to contemplate migrating illegally. So, we want to strengthen these structures in Edo State to make staying back and working gainfully the preferred choice.

“We acknowledge the fact that they are victims, and in many instances, they are entangled in human trafficking due to no fault of theirs. We are extending an open hand to them, and assuring them of support when they return.”