Allow elected LG councils to recruit their teachers, ENetSuD tells Gov. AbdulRahman

• says Governor can’t hire teachers he won’t pay

• insists KWSG’s actions violate LG Autonomy sustained by the Supreme Court

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The Elites Network for Sustainable Development (ENetSuD), an anti-corruption Civil Society Organization that is leading the advocacy for Local Government autonomy in Kwara State, has cautioned Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq over the Kwara State Government (KWSG)’s attitudes that violate the principle of Local Government (LG) autonomy recently sustained in the novel judgment by the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

ENetSuD is reacting to the announcement made by the Kwara State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) that it would be recruiting a total of 1,611 teaching and non-teaching staff from across the 16 LGs of the state.

We agree that the recruitment of staff to occupy vacant positions in various schools across the state is necessary, considering the huge gap in staffing that we identified in public schools during our recent needs assessment as part of our Citizens Enlightenment and Mobilization Program (CEMP).

However, we are insisting that the KWSG cannot hire teachers that it will not pay. The LGs are currently responsible for the payment of SUBEB teachers (in primary and junior secondary schools), even though the junior secondary schools are not constitutionally supposed to be a responsibility of the LGs.

It is a public knowledge that the KWSG is contributing no kobo to the payment of salaries for the SUBEB teachers. The KWSG only pays the senior secondary school teachers under the Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM). The SUBEB teachers are paid solely by the LGs, and such payment gulps a huge proportion of the LGs incomes, thereby hindering the availability funds for developmental projects that have direct impacts on citizens at the community level.

We wonder why the KWSG would continue to hire the teachers that it does not pay. We expect that based on the current reasoning and public order on LG autonomy, the Governor would allow each LG to take a full control of its expenses.

We conclude that the continued control of the financial resources of the LGs is against the LG autonomy that has been sustained by the Supreme Court. We, therefore, ask Governor AbdulRahman to suspend the planned recruitment of SUBEB teachers and allow the LGs to take full responsibility for such recruitment when they have been properly constituted after the LG election.

AbdulRazaq Olayemi,
Deputy Coordinator (Special Duties),
Elites Network for Sustainable Development (ENetSuD),
30th August, 2024