Date: 2018-09-18

The Kwara State Universal Basic Education Board's teachers yesterday failed to resume for the 2018/2019 academic session over non-payment of four-month salaries and pensions.

The teachers staged a peaceful rally from the Ilorin Grammar School (IGS) around Gari-Alimi area to the headquarters of the Nigerian Union Teachers along Asa Dam area of Ilorin, the state capital. The protesters, under the aegis of Concerned Teachers, accused the leadership of the state NUT of not having the interest of the teachers at heart.

The teachers had last week warned that they would not resume for the new academic calendar until their requests were granted.

The angry teachers on getting to the NUT secretariat, locked the doors of the gate and office of the state chairman.

Their spokesperson, Abdulwahab Abubakar, said: "We are here to tell the NUT chairman to go on air and tell the whole world that SUBEB teachers are not resuming until the backlog of our salary arrears are paid. Equally, we have been denied promotion since 2013. They gave us two promotion letters that do not have financial backing. I wonder why and how Kwara state government will be there and teachers will be hungry. Do they expect a hungry teacher to deliver lesson properly in class?"