Ebonyi: LG Teachers Protest Poor Welfare, Appeal to Government For Intervention

The Local government teachers under the Universal Basic Education Board (UBEB) in Ebonyi State have taken to the streets to protest what they described as persistent ill-treatment and neglect by various local government chairmen, especially in the area of welfare and entitlement payments.

The protesters, operating under the umbrella of “Concerned Local Government Teachers”, appealed to Governor Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru to intervene urgently, lamenting that the unresolved welfare issues have dampened their morale and affected their efficiency in the classroom. Leader of the protest, Mr. Ottah Ibiam, a Grade Level 13 teacher at Ebunwana Model Girls Secondary School in Edda Local Government Area, told journalists that none of the welfare packages recently approved by the state government had been paid to them, despite being fully implemented for their colleagues under the Secondary Education Board (SUBEB).

He listed the denied entitlements to include the 2024 Christmas bonus of N150,000, promotion arrears, the N10,000 May Day allowance, and the recently announced N20,000 salary increment tied to the proposed new N90,000 minimum wage. According to him, “The way they have been denying primary and junior secondary school teachers in this state their allowances is discouraging. Those who are being paid are not even coming to school, but our concern is simply that they should give us what is due to us. Secondary Education Board teachers working in the same environment are receiving their entitlements, but we are constantly denied.” Ibiam added that their efforts to seek clarification from the Ministry of Education had not yielded any satisfactory response, prompting the teachers to appeal directly to the governor not to exclude them from the proposed 2024 Christmas bonus of N200,000 to N350,000.

Reacting to the development, the State Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Mr. Ekechi Francis Okorie, confirmed the teachers’ complaints as valid. He explained that only three local governments had fully paid the earlier-approved N75,000 bonus for local government workers, leaving teachers in ten LGAs without payment. Okorie stated that the union had collected and submitted the names of unpaid teachers to the Ministry of Education and assured that the issue was being followed up. On the N20,000 salary increment, he explained that while SUBEB had commenced payment, UBEB was yet to fulfil its promise despite earlier assurances. He revealed that the NLC convened a meeting on November 6 after receiving complaints, leading to a communique directing the government to complete all outstanding payments on or before November 27. The teachers warned that the continued neglect of UBEB teachers could further deteriorate the already fragile education sector in the state, stressing with one of their slogans: “If you can write your name, thank your teacher.”