No fewer than 600 teachers have lost their lives and 19,000 others displaced since the Boko Haram Islamic sect started its destructive activities in the country, the president, the Nigeria Union of Teachers, Michael Olukoya said on Monday.
Olukoya also made a case for the convocation of a National Education Summit with a view to repositioning the nation’s education sector.
According to Olukoya, the country needed a serious result oriented and purposeful education summit where professionals and stakeholders would bring their experiences to bear in offering solutions to all challenges bedeviling the system.
Olukoya, who was represented by Comrade Samson Akinlade, spoke in Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, on the occasion of the 2015 World Teachers Day celebration, said the summit would be for education to serve the current demands of the Nigerian society.
He said the summit would be expected to address many issues including teacher training, UTME cut-off points, teachers’ salary structure, motivation, career progression, teaching environment, quality and functional education for the citizenry.
Olukoya called on the Federal Government to beef up security around public secondary schools in Nigeria to avert further bloodshed. He also canvassed raising teachers’ retirement age to 65, to prevent premature retirement and retention of mature and experienced individuals in the system.The event held at the Oluyemi Kayode Stadium, Ado-Ekiti, with teachers drawn from the 16 local government areas, who were clad in ‘Aso Ebi’ with the portrait of Governor Ayodele Fayose.
Delivering his speech on the occasion, the NUT boss said, “The memory of Chibok girls and thousands of others whose potentials and lives have been truncated, remains traumatic and demoralising.
“It is on record that over 600 teachers have died in terror attacks. These include 308 in Borno, 75 in Adamawa, 18 in Yobe, 25 in Kaduna, 120 in Plateau, 63 in Kano and two in Gombe. This is in addition to 19,000 teachers who have been displaced and are suffering great losses due to barbaric activities of the insurgents.”
Speaking on the occasion, Fayose promised more goodies for teachers in the state’s employ and also, presented cars and other gift items to mark the occasion.
He said no educational system could rise above its teachers and that without adequately motivating teachers, the system would only record abysmal failure.
Consequently, the best teachers in primary and secondary and the headmaster general for primary school were appointed and given new car each.
Three tutors general were also appointed for each senatorial district.
The governor said, “I know the value of your votes and what you represent. I won’t joke with your interest…The issues raised are being addressed and you know our financial situation and within the limit of our finances, we will address them.”
In his remarks, renowned lawyer Aare Afe Babalola (SAN) urged teachers to be more committed to their duty to justify the support given them by the state government.
“What I saw today showed that truly Fayose is a friend of teachers. I am a teacher, too, and it will be 70 years next January that I started teaching. I thank the governor for bringing you all together here to celebrate yourselves,” he said.
