Hammed Shittu in Ilorin
Teachers across Kwara State Colleges of Education under the aegis of Joint Academic Staff Union in Tertiary Institutions (JASUTI), Kwara State chapter at the weekend lauded the state governor, Alhaji AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq for taking the provision of better welfare package as a major priority since assumption of office.
The union also commended the present administration in the state for implementing the Consolidated Polytechnics and Colleges of Education Academic Staff Salary Structure (CONPCASS), which had been pending for several years.
The affected institutions include the Colleges of Education Ilorin, Oro Lafiagi and College of Arabic and Islamic Legal Studies (CAILS).
The chairman of the union in the state, Mrs. Bilikis Olasehinde stated this in Ilorin, during a thank-you visit to the governor at Ilorin.
She stated that they were proud of their decision to support him during the 2019 general elections in the state.
The chairman who spoke on the behalf of other members of the union saying, “We are indeed very happy for (your) approving the CONPCASS that is due for Academic Staff of the Colleges of Education Ilorin, Oro Lafiagi and College of Arabic and Islamic Legal Studies (CAILS).
“On behalf of the academic staff of tertiary institutions in Kwara State under my leadership, we say thank you sir.
“We are here to show our appreciation for everything you have done for us. Sir, let me go back memory lane. When you came in as governor of Kwara, there were issues in the state’s tertiary institutions.
“We had issues of salary arrears and we were on strike. Immediately you came in, we said we should suspend the strike on our own and give the new government the benefit of doubt.
“We thank God that we did that because within 24 hours we met His Excellency you did what you promised. We appreciate you for that.”
Olasehinde also praised the administration for restoring monthly subventions to the institutions, saying members of JASUTI now receive full salaries every month with the development.
“On the issue of our subvention, His Excellency said going forward, we would be getting our full salaries and that era of percentages is over. This is a reality today. The subvention is released to all our tertiary institutions as and when due,” she said.
“Also, we had issue of accreditations across our tertiary institutions and we met His Excellency. He promised us again and did what he promised. We really appreciate that.”
AbdulRazaq, for his part, explained how his administration saved the state’s tertiary institutions from collapse for lack of support, saying the previous government totally neglected the schools.
“The previous government totally neglected the schools; they were not paying salaries, let alone fixing the infrastructure. They did not care about that.
“The first institution I visited was Kwara State College of Education (Technical) Lafiagi and I was totally disappointed….The state government abandoned its responsibilities over the years,” AbdulRazaq said.
He added, “We are glad to have met your demands. While we will be glad to do more, it is glaring to everyone that we are coming from a terrible era that no one should ever wish for again.
“The last administration could not even pay when it was N18,000 minimum wage. Now, we have moved up to N30,000 minimum wage. We even made sure that when you were making your demands your salaries were being paid.”
AbdulRazaq said his administration was determined to restore Kwara’s lost glory in education with right investments in infrastructure, staff welfare and other support schemes.
