By Chuks Onuoha.
The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abia State, High Chief Ikechi Emenike has described as immoral a situation where all categories of workers in the state , including teachers are owed their wages after toiling for months to perform their official functions.
This is contained in a solidarity message he sent to Abia teachers on the occasion of the 2022 World Teachers Day(WTD), which was celebrated in Umuahia, Abia state capital.
While commending them for “stoically performing their duties despite the prevailing harsh environment and poor condition of service they are faced with, but lamented that the Government in power has not treated them well.
He decried the prevailing situation where teachers in the state shed tears and beg to be paid salaries, which are being owed by the government in power.
He assured them that their ordeals, sufferings and deprivation, which have become their lot in public schools in Abia will become a thing of the past if he becomes the Governor of the state come 2023, stating that better days are already ahead of them .
“I feel the avoidable pains inflicted on you by the perpetrators of bad governance in our own dear state,” he said, adding that it is immoral to owe teachers or any category of workers their wages”., he stated.
He vowed that he would not only clear all salary arrears of teachers but ensure a sustainable system of paying salaries, allowances and other entitlements without making anyone cry or beg his government to get what is due to them.
Noting the theme of this year’s World Teachers Day as “transformation of education begins with teachers”, Emenike, a renowned development economist, said that teachers are indeed the bedrock of the education system in any society.
According to him, the incoming APC government in Abia has put in place an education policy that recognizes the importance of teachers and prioritizes their welfare in order to keep the state in tune with global trend in education.
He however advised Abia teachers to learn from their past mistakes and desist from helping to give power to “people who don’t know the value of education and derive morbid pleasure in subjecting teachers to hardships”.
He advised that the forthcoming 2023 general election is an opportunity for our teachers and every other Abians, to examine their conscience and take a decisive action with their votes and bring change to the state”.
He advised further that teachers in Abia should pull themselves out of self-pity and lamentations and key into the rescue mission of Abia APC by saying no to the bad system and those behind the rot and decay in God’s Own State.
If you can do this , together we will build a new Abia that will care for teachers and with APC government in 2023, Abia teachers will sing a new song of joy and gratitude,”he stated. END
