Primary schools across the 16 local government areas of Ekiti State were shut on Monday in line with the two-day warning strike declared by the Nigeria Union of Teachers.
The teachers are protesting against their unpaid September 2014 salary arrears and 2014 leave bonuses.
Many pupils who had left for schools early in the morning returned home as their schools’ gates were shut.
The state Chairman of NUT, Samuel Akosile, told journalists their salaries and leave bonuses were not captured in the bailout released by the Federal Government to Ekiti recently.
He wondered why the local government workers were paid for the period while primary school teachers, who received their salaries from the same source, were left out.
“There has been serious agitation, it is our considered opinion that even if the bailout did not come, it behoves the state government to look inward and look at ways to pay the money. It is long overdue.”
The NUT boss said the fact that the secondary school teachers did not join the strike did not signal division in the union.
“This agitation had been on but I pleaded with my people to allow us have a dialogue with the government first. The governor said he would pay with the bailout but it seems as if we are running out of patience and we have no option but to embark on this strike to press home our demands.
“Although, the government is making effort to pay, it has to look inward for an alternative to pay members if the bailout is not forthcoming because this payment is long overdue.
“Government is a continuum and this situation is a product of actions and inactions of the (former Governor Kayode) Fayemi’s government which this government inherited and it has to inherit it properly,” he said.
But Fayose’s Chief Press Secretary, Idowu Adelusi, said the contentious salary was part of the bailout expected from the Federal Government.
In a statement made available to journalists on Monday, Adelusi said, “Ekiti is one of the nine states affected; consequently, the governor has explained times without number to the workers. If the Federal Government has not paid, there is nothing Ekiti State Government can do.
“If the economy had been alright, it was possible for the governor to source for money to pay the teachers before bailout comes, but it is pretty difficult to pay even the regular salary.”
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