Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) said yesterday 28 states were owing teachers backlog of salaries.

Its National President, Mr Michael Alogba-Olukoya, spoke yesterday at a two-day workshop on commercialisation and privatisation of education organised by NUT and Educational International (EI) for the union’s National Executive Council (NEC) members in Abuja.

He accused some governors of “insensitivity” to the plight of teachers by refusing to pay their salaries at a time of recession.

According to him, recession came to worsen the situation for teachers with many of them being owed by their states.

Alogba-Olukoya accused some governors of deliberately sacking 35 teachers, who made errors during the world teachers’ day celebration.

”We have the issue of salary payment. As I speak, 28 states, one way or the other, are owing our teachers.

“And to add salt to this injury, some of our teachers because we were celebrating world teachers day, they maid error; about 35 of them were dismissed. But thank God today, it is now history,” he said.

He said teachers were confronted with many challenges, including the  Boko Haram insurgency, which claimed the lives of many teachers in the Northeast.

Alogba-Olukoya hailed teachers and NUT leaders from Borno State for remaining undaunted in the face of challenges of the Boko Haram insurgency.

He condemned the commercialisation and privatisation of education in Nigeria, saying the policy has left education in the hands of private proprietors, who charge outrageous fees in a bid to make profit.

“Enough of producing second class citizens in the name of education. It is another way of producing modern day slavery in our academic sector,” he said.

He directed teachers to register with the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria to avoid being kicked out of the classrooms.

”Everybody must register, must upgrade your status. That is the global thing. That is what is happening all over the world. We don’t want any of our members to be a scape-goat. Let us go back to our states and ensure everything works out,” he added.

The Nation Good