The leadership of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) in Edo State has directed primary school teachers in the state to shun the February 1, 2021, resumption date proposed by the state government.
The directive was in reaction to the appeal by the state government to the union to suspend its ongoing strike and give opportunity for dialogue with government to resolve the issue at stake.
Daily Trust reports that NUT in a statement yesterday signed by Pius Okhueleigbe, state chairman and Moni Modesty Itua, Assistant Secretary-General of the union respectively, said the government has not demonstrated any reasonable commitment to address the issue.
It said: “The State Wing Executive Council (SWEC) of the union in an enlarged meeting resolved that the indefinite strike started on January 18, must continue.
“The decision to continue with the strike is because the union is convinced that it had earlier given the state government eight weeks to resolve its demands before the commencement of the strike.”
The union said it was no longer disposed to request for additional days from the state government based on past incidents.
“So, we have unanimously agreed that dialogue/negotiation between Edo State government and the union should continue while the strike persists,” he said.
It would be recalled that the union had directed primary school teachers to embark on an indefinite strike on January 18, 2021 but the state government had postpone the resumption to February due to COVID-19 pandemic.
