Press Releases

Fashola Pleads With Striking Teachers To Have A Rethink

Jul 1, 2008 - Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN) on Tuesday urged teachers currently on nationwide strike to have a rethink and consider other alternatives to press for their due.

The Governor who spoke at the Presidential lounge of the Murtala Mohammed Airport, Ikeja while returning from Abuja said while the teachers have a genuine and just cause which they are fighting for, in doing so, “they should not destroy everything”.

Said he: “A lot of things would suffer, especially in Lagos State. We have planned many programmes for the school vacation period, construction and rehabilitation of the schools, and even classrooms which teachers would benefit from. We also plan to supply all the benches and desks. If the academic session programme gets longer, we have little time to implement this”.

Governor Fashola added that the teachers are canvassing for the resolution of the issue with the wrong person, advising them to channel their energies to the National Assembly for appropriate revenue allocation that would allow the states have the capacity to pay the salaries and the various benefits being agitated for.

In his words: “ the Federal Government has no right to stipulate salaries for states.it should be a matter of the individual state’s capacity and choices and would also depend on individual bargaining skills and the standard set by each state. All of the states are equal but different. Each one has its own area of advantages, its own area of strength and therefore cannot operate on the same condition”.

He added that the teachers must look back as they ask for an enhanced salary, reiterating that there is no basis for children in states where the teachers are not being owed to suffer from the effect of the strike.

In his words: “Is the strike the best method?. The children entrusted in their care are suffering and there are so many things that would suffer. Why should children in states where the teachers are not being owed be allowed to suffer?. They should reflect on this as they pursue the strike”.

He listed other serious issues that the strike will raise to include an elongation of the academic calendar which means the states will pay more money to keep the calendar and the children in school.

Governor Fashola added that it would mean that states would have less money to attend to other social challenges when the academic calendar is disrupted.