…Reforms, good governance driving our strategy – Obaseki
Reforms by Edo State Governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki, to attend to the needs of teachers and the administration’s judicious allocation of the Paris Club refund has been applauded by independent researchers, who have affirmed that, indeed, the state government is not owing teachers’ salaries.
In a statement on Monday, in Benin City, signed by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Communication Strategy, Mr Crusoe Osagie, the state government said that the absence of Edo State from the list of states owing teachers’ salaries in Nigeria confirms the government’s statements on the status of salary payment to teachers.
“For the avoidance of doubt, we make bold to say that Edo State government is not owing teachers salaries,” he averred.
The verdict was contained in a recent publication, THISDAY Sunday, February 11, 2018, by the Enough is Enough Nigeria entitled Teachers’ Travails: A case of unpaid salaries, detailing 13 states of the federation that owe teachers’ salaries, ranging from one to 28 months.
According to the organisation, “Civil servants in some states have been at the mercy of their governors. Salaries are either delayed, halved or not paid at all. Yet, elected officials in those states do not share the same fate. The outstanding salaries have crippled economic activities in those states and civil servants find it difficult to afford basics of life.”
Osagie said that the Governor Obaseki’s purposeful leadership in Edo State is people-centric, which is why at the outset of his administration, he put up a system to ensure teachers are paid as and when due.
He added, “We are pursuing reforms and good governance models that place high premium on human capital. This is why the state government has ensured that salaries are not just paid but that there is continuous training for capacity development.
“It is heartening to know that detractors, who have pilloried Edo in the past are seeing what these independent data have to say about the state of teachers’ salary payment in Edo State.”