HURIWA Carpets El-Rufai On Illegal Sacking Of Teachers
Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has carpeted Kaduna State Government over what it described as vindictive, illegal and wicked dismissal of, 2,357 teachers, including the National President of Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) Audu Amba for allegedly failing or refusing to sit for the competency test organised by the State Universal Basic Education Board (KADSUBEB) which the Rights group described as a self-help measure by the Kaduna State governor for political reasons that workers protested against his inhumane regime.
HURIWA in a statement signed by the National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Nwubiko said the position of the Kaduna State’s chairman of the NUT Ibrahim Dalhatu that the competency test and dismissal of the teachers were illegal.
He said that is the correct position of the employment law because ab initio, the teachers’ conditions of service do not include this so-called politically motivated competency test which the Rights group described as a contravention of Section 42 of the Constitution because the governor is an employee of the voters in Kaduna State and his appointees are not subjected to such competency test thereby making the policy discriminatory.
HURIWA recalled that KADSUBEB in a statement on Sunday said the Board conducted a competency test for over 30,000 teachers in Dec. 2021. KADSUBEB said 2,192 primary school teachers, including NUT National President, had been dismissed for refusing to sit for the competency test. It said some 165 of the 27,662 teachers that sat for the competency test were also sacked for poor performances.
HURIWA quoted the Kaduna teaching board as saying too that:” Following the State Government’s resolution for continued assessment of teachers to ensure better delivery of learning outcomes for pupils, KADSUBEB conducted another competency test for the teachers in December 2021.
“The services of teachers who scored below 40 per cent are no longer required and their appointments have been terminated from the Public Service for their poor performances. Teachers who scored 75 per cent and above are recognised as those who passed the test and qualified for attending courses in leadership and school management.
“Teachers who scored between 40 and 74 per cent did not meet up with the minimum pass mark, they will be given a second chance to improve their capacities. KADSUBEB has initiated viable training programmes for teachers under its statutory TPD with support from the state government and development partners. The training programmes will be conducted during the end of term vacation and in their respective schools, to minimise disruptions of teaching and learning.”
HURIWA however backs the head of the Teachers Union in Kaduna State Mr Dalhatu who rightly described the competency test and the sacking of the teachers as illegal.
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HURIWA quoted Comrade Dalhatu as arguing rightly thus: “We have secured a court order restraining the Board from conducting the competency test, it conducted the test without recourse to the rule of law”.
HURIWA has relatedly urged the Justices of the Supreme Court to form a trade union to stop the perennial dictatorship of the Chief Justice of Nigeria who may want to side with the executive arm of government to hold the judicial arm of government in perpetual financial servitude to make the Justices slaves of the President and governors.
HURIWA recalled a media leak of a letter by the justices, in which members of Nigeria’s judiciary expressed their concerns over their budgetary allocations that have not been increased in the last four years.
“We are serving this Country diligently and to the best of our ability. We resolve disputes between the Executive and the Legislature including all manner of disagreements, between governments and individuals…It would be a tragedy if the Nigerian Public were to know that we are unable to resolve our problems internally without going public,” the letter said.
“The decision to write to you formally must be seen by Your Lordship as an effort on our part to preserve the dignity of the Judiciary and the respect accorded to us by Governments and people of Nigeria.”
The issues raised by the justices in the letter include the failure to replace dilapidated vehicles, accommodation problems, poor healthcare services at the Supreme Court clinic and poor electricity supply to the Supreme Court.
The justices also lamented the increase in electricity tariffs, no modified allowances to reflect the increase in diesel prices and lack of internet services in their chambers.
The justices called Mr Tanko’s attention to an internal memo served by the Chief Registrar, which notified judges that electricity would be supplied to the court between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. daily, due to the lack of diesel.
This memo implies that the Justices must finish their work and close before 4 pm. Your Lordship with all due respect, this is the peak of the degeneration of the Court; it is the height of decadence, and clear evidence of the absence of probity and moral rectitude,” the Justices wrote. “Your Lordship, this act alone portends imminent danger to the survival of this Court and the Judiciary as an institution, which is gradually drifting to extinction.”
Other issues cover the non-signing of amended Court Rules, an abrupt stoppage of foreign workshops and training per annum for justices; and no provision of qualified legal assistants.
As such, the judges called Mr Tanko’s sense of responsibility into question, fearing a potential shutdown of the judiciary due to the raised concerns.
“Your Lordship, this is a wake-up call. Your Lordship must take full responsibility as our leader. You must not concession your responsibility to people who have no responsibility or stake in preserving and defending the dignity of the Institution,” the letter said. “Your Lordship occupies a position of leadership. We will not wait for the total collapse of the institution.” The letter was reportedly delivered early in June.
