Tension is mounting in Kwara State’s education sector as public school teachers intensify calls for inclusion in the newly approved 30 per cent Peculiar Salary Allowance, warning that continued exclusion could further weaken the state’s already strained education system.
On Friday, teachers under the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) staged a peaceful demonstration in Ilorin, converging on the union’s state secretariat to express frustration over what they described as a widening pay disparity between them and other categories of state workers.
While the state government recently approved the 30 per cent allowance for civil servants in ministries, departments and agencies, teachers were left out, a decision protesters say reinforces long-standing neglect of their welfare.
Speaking during the protest, a teacher leader, Segun Afolabi, argued that the exclusion was unjustifiable, stressing that the 27.5 per cent Teachers’ Specific Allowance (TSA) should not be presented as a substitute for the Peculiar Allowance.
“The TSA is a statutory entitlement, not a privilege,” he said. “Teachers should not be forced to choose between what the law already provides and a new allowance granted to others.”
Afolabi warned that poor remuneration was directly affecting classroom performance, noting that many teachers now survive largely on loans amid worsening economic conditions. He added that teachers were also excluded from November 2024 palliative payments made to other state workers.
“The morale of teachers is at its lowest. When those shaping the future are struggling to survive, the education system inevitably suffers,” he said.
Union Leadership Walks a Tightrope
Reacting to the protest, the Kwara State Chairman of the NUT, Yusuf Agboola, acknowledged the anger among teachers but urged restraint, saying the union was still engaging the government through dialogue.
Agboola disclosed that negotiations with the state government covered both the TSA and the Peculiar Allowance, insisting that the union had formally demanded that teachers benefit from both.
“We made it clear during negotiations that the 30 per cent Peculiar Allowance must apply to teachers as well,” he said, adding that the eventual approval of the TSA, after more than 10 years of delay, marked a significant breakthrough.
However, his comments revealed internal strains within the union, as he criticised an earlier protest by some teachers, claiming it was hijacked by individuals with “hidden motives”.
“There is genuine pain among teachers, but division will only weaken our collective struggle,” Agboola said, calling for unity and patience.
National Union Raises the Stakes
The controversy follows a stern warning from the national leadership of the NUT, which in November accused the Kwara State Government of systematically sidelining teachers’ welfare.
In a letter to Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, the union cited failure to implement the TSA and the National Harmonised Teachers’ Retirement Age Act, 2022, which raises teachers’ retirement age to 65 years or 40 years of service.
The union warned that unresolved grievances could lead to an indefinite strike, noting that while salary structures for health and judicial workers had been approved, teachers’ demands remained unattended.
Government Silence
As of the time of filing this report, the Commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development, Dr Lawal Olohungbebe, had not responded to enquiries regarding the teachers’ demands.
For many educators, the silence from government officials has become as troubling as the pay gap itself, reinforcing fears that without swift intervention, industrial harmony and the quality of public education in Kwara State may be at risk.
