Teachers in Nigeria's capital city say local government leaders stole money meant for their wages. The Nigerian Union of Teachers claims six area council chairmen took N4.1 billion that should have gone to educators. Minister Nyesom Wike gave this money to pay teachers the new minimum wage that the federal government approved. Union treasurer Emmanuel Ameh talked about this problem during a television interview. He explained how the council leaders lied about what they did with the cash.
Teachers have stopped working for more than three months because they want fair pay. They met with Minister Wike to ask for help with their wage problems. The former Rivers State governor promised to solve their money troubles and released the funds the next day. Local council chairmen received all the money but refused to give it to teachers. These officials told lawmakers the cash was for something called signature allowance instead of teacher wages.
The teachers union brought their case to the National Assembly committee that handles salary issues. Committee members asked the six council chairmen if they got the N4.1 billion from the minister. All the leaders admitted they received the money but said it was not for teacher wages. They could not explain what signature allowance means when lawmakers asked them about it. Primary school teachers remain the last group of government workers without the new minimum wage.
Teachers have stopped working for more than three months because they want fair pay. They met with Minister Wike to ask for help with their wage problems. The former Rivers State governor promised to solve their money troubles and released the funds the next day. Local council chairmen received all the money but refused to give it to teachers. These officials told lawmakers the cash was for something called signature allowance instead of teacher wages.
The teachers union brought their case to the National Assembly committee that handles salary issues. Committee members asked the six council chairmen if they got the N4.1 billion from the minister. All the leaders admitted they received the money but said it was not for teacher wages. They could not explain what signature allowance means when lawmakers asked them about it. Primary school teachers remain the last group of government workers without the new minimum wage.
