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Colleges of Education teachers laud governor over welfare

Teachers in the Kwara State Colleges of Education have lauded Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, saying their welfare has improved tremendously under the governor since 2019.

The commendation was given by the teachers under the Joint Academic Staff Union in Tertiary Institutions (JASUTI) when the union paid “a thank you visit” to the governor, where they commended the administration for implementing the Consolidated Polytechnics and Colleges of Education Academic Staff Salary Structure (CONPCASS), which had been pending for several years.

“Your Excellency, you are a man of your words. We are indeed very happy to approve 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).”

The state Chairman of JASUTI, Bilikis Olasehinde, who spoke on behalf of the union, added: “On behalf of the academic staff of tertiary institutions in Kwara State under my leadership, we say thank you sir.

“Your Excellency, 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 State, there were issues in the state’s tertiary institutions. We had issues of unpaid 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 thebenefitof doubt.

WethankGod 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 the monthly subvention to the institutions, saying members of JASUTI are now receiving full salaries everymonthduetothedevelopment.

 

“On the issue of our subvention, His Excellency said going forward, we would be getting our full salaries and that era of percentage payment is over. This is a reality today. The subvention is released to all tertiary institutions as and when due,” she said. On the issue of accreditations across tertiary institutions in the state, the union leader said the governor promised them when they met him, and that promise had been fulfilled.

Responding, Governor AbdulRazaq explained how his administration had saved the state’s tertiary institutions from collapse for lack of support, saying the previous government totally neglected the schools. The governor said: “The previous government totally neglected the institutions; they were not paying salaries, let alone fixing the infrastructure.

They did not care about that. The first institution I visited was the Kwara State College of Education (Technical) in Lafiagi and I was totally disappointed. The state government abandoned its responsibilities over the years. “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 the 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 further added that his administration was determined to restore the lost glory of the state in education with right investments in infrastructure, staff welfareandothersupportschemes.

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