NUT Wants Probe of Private School Owners

The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) has made a special appeal to the House of Representatives to do a thorough check on the private schools’ employment process and management as the school owners have been accused of indulging in modern day slavery. The Teachers’ Union clearly condemns such school owners and state governments who withhold or delay teachers’ salaries. During the NUT’s 2016 National Solemn Assembly and Prayers in Abuja, the President of NUT, Comrade Michael Olukoya stated that the National Union would continue to support industrial actions in states where its members were being maltreated. He pointed out that since the House of Representatives have threatened to picket foreign firms over their harsh anti-labour policies, the legislators should first descend on private schools in Nigeria ”˜because charity begins at home’. Comrade Olukoya reiterated; “The House of Representatives should beam their search light on those Nigerians that are operating modern day slavery by way of recruitment and appointment. “The House of Representative private schools who don’t pay minimum wage and do not respect our labour laws, be they locally owned or owned by foreigners. The way they treat graduates in private schools is very disappointing. “There is no future; no stability, no salaries, and pensions are not there. You cannot even question the owners on anything that should ordinarily be an interaction. We can’t just sit down here and believe that things are working well. Enough of modern day slavery. “That was why we were very happy when the House of Representatives rose up that they want to go and fight Lebanese and Indian employers. Charity begins at home; there is nobody in Nigeria who has ruled this country in the past that is not having schools. Even religious leaders who came in the name of evangelism are university owners. “Don’t forget that the NUT is both an aluta and a professional organisation. We owe it as a responsibility to advise our government, especially a government that is coming with a mantra of positive change and correcting anomalies to engage qualified teachers. He concluded: “There are some states in this country they pay their salary as they like, as a general warning, we want to warn all states that are paying half salary or that are paying as they like to stop it before we ask all these states to make their respective states ungovernable.