No worker earn below minimum wage of N30,000 in Kwara - NUT chairman

Chairman of the Nigerian Union of Teacher (NUT), Olu Adewara has disclosed that no government worker or member of the NUT earn below the national minimum wage of N30,000 in Kwara state. 

This was revealed by chief press secretary to the governor, Rafiu Ajakaye, noting that the NUT chairman had said that even the blind can see the huge impacts Governor Abdulrazaq led administration has had on the education sector within its short reign.

Adewara urged the government to consider the workers' request on contributory pension, outstanding promotion issues at the Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM), and consequential adjustment, saying, 

Of course, there are other pressing matters which we would like the government to look at, among which we have the minimum wage consequential adjustment for grade levels 07 and above. We thank you that minimum wage in Kwara has been paid because there is no worker in Kwara State that earns below N30,000. So, the issue of minimum wage is settled and I want you to preach that gospel because some people did not understand.

Mentioning some of the things the Union is happy about, He said that the beginning of the governor's tenure put a permanent stop to salary payment on percentage to all SUBEB teachers, payment of counterpart funds to UBEC and normalisation of the relationship with UBEC, payment made to WAEC on behalf of schools that are labelled for examination misconduct, among others. 

The NUT chairman thanked the governor for the approval of implementation of promotion arrears of teachers and other SUBEB staff from the year 2017 to 2018.

On his part, Governor Abdulrazaq stated his commitment to the welfare of workers, saying, 

We will not play with our teachers because you are the foundation of the society. If we get it wrong with our teachers, anything else will be a mess. 

While commending teachers for their efforts despite the challenging circumstance they had found themselves, He explained that total neglect of the education and other sectors in the past means the administration is having to sink a lot of funds into fixing basic amenities to bring the state at similar level with its contemporaries. 

The governor said the people at the helms of affairs in the state, including himself, were making sacrifices so that the administration could deliver good governance to the people.