Borno suspends 42 teachers for absconding from duty for 2 years

Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno state on Wednesday recommended the suspension of 42 primary school teachers for allegedly absconding from their duty posts for two years in Gamborun Ngala Local Government Area in the state.

The governor made this known during the Democracy Day celebration at the Ramat Square, Maiduguri.

He said that during his tour of primary schools in Gamborun Ngala, he discovered that 62 teachers were registered in the nominal role whereas, only 11of them were present.

“To my dismay, the headmaster said he has had only 11 teachers in the school in the last two years. This is very obnoxious and l have directed the suspension of the 42 teachers who were not on ground,” he said.

The governor said that he would not condone the culture of absenteeism, indolence, indiscipline and nepotism in the public service, noting that prudent management of public funds, transparency and accountability must be the guiding principles.

Zulum said that proactive modalities would be put in place toward creating institutional framework for basic service delivery to address the high public expectations aimed at strengthening the confidence of the people.

“We will address the issues of security, poverty, unemployment, quality education, infrastructure, health services among other things that will positively impact on our lives. All these will invariably depend on good governance in a democracy,” he said.

In his reaction, the Borno state Chairman of the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT), Jubril Muhammed, said the teachers’ action was not a deliberate act, disclosing that teachers in the state usually work on a two- week shifts agreement.

“The first set of teachers were deployed to librated councils while those that are substituting them every two weeks are working in the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps of the local government areas in the city of Maiduguri.

“It is not possible for all the teachers to be on ground at the same time because of the current security challenges. We also lack adequate teachers to carter for the educational services in both the local government areas and IDPs camps at the same time.

“Also, most of our teachers have lost everything including their means of livelihood, citing lack of accommodation in the local government areas as another challenge,” he said.

The chairman urged the governor to temper justice with mercy on his decision.