Kaduna NUT Suspends Strike As El-Rufai Tells Sacked Teachers To Re-Apply

The Nigeria Union of Teachers Kaduna state chapter has suspended its indefinite strike, 10 days after embarking on the industrial action.

The chairman of the state chapter of the union, Mr. Audi Amba, directed its members in public primary schools in Kaduna State to resume duty.

Amba gave the directive shortly after the state’s Executive Council emergency meeting in Kaduna on Thursday.

He explained that reasons for calling off the strike, was that the state government had decided to give the 21,780 teachers said to have failed the Primary Four competency test another opportunity for consideration for recruitment into teaching profession.

He noted that as a union committed to the support of the state in its drive for qualitative education, the state NUT had no choice than to call off its 10-day-old strike.

Teachers in Kaduna State had on January 8 commenced an indefinite strike in compliance with the directive of the state chapter of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUJ).

The union had directed all teachers in the state to remain at home in protest against the sacking of over 21,000 teachers by the Kaduna State government.

The state government had last year sacked the teachers for scoring below 75 per cent in a competency test conducted for them in June 2017.

In a statement signed by NUT Kaduna state chairman, the union told the teachers not to resume until the government reverses its decision.

They also criticised the government’s decision to proceed with the sack despite a suit at the National Industrial Court on the matter

Also, in solidarity with the union, organised labour, led by the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Ayuba Wabba, last Thursday defied governor El-rufai’s directive to protest the sacking of the teachers.