By Ismail Auwal
Public servants including teachers in Borno State are grumbling over unpaid salaries by the state government.
In an exclusive interview with SAHELIAN TIMES, some of the affected workers with various local governments, primary health care institutions, and the state Local Education Authority (LEA) opened up about the difficulties they have experienced over the years, as a result of the situation.
A vice principal at a junior secondary school in Guzama Local who holds a Master’s Degree and has been employed by the LEA since 2002 alleged the state government under the leadership of Gov. Babagana Umara Zulum has reduced his pay to N4000.
“We were requested to travel to Ali Mungono House for verification and from that time to date we found ourselves in this situation,” said vice principal who preferred anonymity for fear of victimisation.
He said UNICEF was initially supporting them with the sum of N 6000 as stipends but the government told them to return the money.
“The government told us that we had to pay back all the stipends we had received from UNICEF, so they gradually reduced our wage until it was N4000,” he lamented.
A Universal Basic Education Board (UBEC) employee also alleged that he had to leave the board when conditions became unbearable to accept a position with the state Teachers Services Board.
From October 2021 to date, the state government has not paid their salaries according to him.
A public servant who works as an administrator for the Shani Local Government claimed that the state government had withheld 301 employees’ salaries for the past two years, and that 8 of them have since passed away in agony.
“We once planned a protest, and a lady who was one of the victimised workers had a heart attack and passed away just as about we start,” he claimed.
According to a level 6 employee of the local government who considers himself “fortunate” to be among those receiving salaries, the government is paying him N9000 monthly.
Zulum, has once described the problems in the state civil service and the local government service commissions as enormous.
“Many people could not understand the complexity of problems we have at hand, but I assure you we are going to sit down and address them with time,” he said.
He lamented that about 3,000 teachers on the payrolls of the LEA in the state don’t have any qualified certificates, talk less of experience to teach, but assured that those that are trainable will be trained.
