NANS gives Suswam 7-day ultimatum over unpaid teachers’ salaries

Worried by the non-payment of teachers’ salaries and other civil servants in Benue State, the National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, has issued the state governor a seven-day ultimatum to pay up all outstanding salaries owed teachers and other workers in the state or face mass protest.
In this vein, NANS said it had concluded plans to relocate its secretariat to Makurdi, the state capital, to demand payment of all outstanding salaries before May 29 hand-over date.
It would be recalled that the lingering issue of non-payment of salaries in the state resulted to closure of public primary schools for nine months.
NANS in a statement signed by its president, Comrade Tijani Usman, said the move became imperative to save education and the plight of students in the state and nation in general.
It wondered why Gov Suswam would continue to pay a deaf ear to issues of education in spite of its importance to the development of individuals and the nation.
“Gov. Suswam has unequivocally demonstrated his revulsion for educational development over time. As chairman of presidential committee set up by the President Jonathan administration to negotiate with the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, over the protracted industrial actions, Suswam handled the issue with kid gloves resulting to his removal before a head way was made.
“He equally handled the State University ASUU chapter disagreements with arrogance when he shamefully ordered that the school’s gate be shot and keys handed over to him,” the statement read in part.
NANS maintained that it would in few days mobilise its members from across the country for a protest in the state to make its position known, stressing that “injustice to one is injustice to all; therefore, NANS will in few days from now mobilize all its members in all the higher institutions in the country for a solidarity protest with our comrades in Benue State. Enough is enough…”