Union defends Idris’ education record, salary reforms
By Haruna Aliyu, Birnin Kebbi
The Kebbi State chapter of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) has rejected a video circulating on social media, describing it as old, edited and doctored to create a misleading impression about education funding and teachers’ welfare in the state.
The union, led by Comrade Zaki Sarki SK, said in a statement on Monday that the video contained what it described as false and unverified claims about the administration of Governor Nasir Idris and its performance in the education sector.
Reacting to what he described as disparaging comments and allegations against the governor, Sarki alleged that the video was being circulated by individuals seeking to discredit the administration’s efforts in education and other sectors.
The NUT leader said the union viewed the allegations as an attempt to incite teachers and other workers against the state government.
He said the administration had taken steps to revive the education sector, which he described as having faced serious challenges before Governor Idris assumed office.
Sarki said the governor inherited teachers earning less than the ₦18,000 minimum wage but subsequently reviewed their salaries to ₦75,000.
He accused the originators of the video of deliberately omitting what he described as positive developments in the state’s education sector.
According to him, the administration had constructed mega schools in four emirates, built more than 2,500 classrooms, recruited over 2,000 teachers and provided furniture and learning materials for schools.
“To drag the image of a government to the mud that built mega schools in four emirates, constructed over two thousand five hundred classes, recruited over two thousand teachers, provided furniture and learning aids is, to say the least, a desperate attempt to smear the government’s hard-earned reputation,” he said.
Sarki said the NUT remained supportive of the administration and would continue to work with it to improve education and deliver services to residents.
“We at Kebbi NUT are solidly behind Governor Idris and we will continue to support him to provide dividends of democracy to the people of Kebbi State and we hereby condemn and reject the doctored video and its entire contents,” he said.
He urged political actors to verify information before making claims about the state government, while calling attention to what he described as the administration’s achievements in the education sector.
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