12th
October, 2020
PRESS RELEASE:
MURIC HAILS BUHARI FOR LIFTING THE
STATUS OF TEACHERS
The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has hailed President Muhammadu
Buhari (PMB) for his new national teaching policy which came into force last
week. The new policy raised the retirement age and service from 60 to 65 and
from 35 to 40 respectively; established a special salary scale; provided rural
allowance; increased science allowance; promised automatic admission and free
tuition for children of teachers in their places of work; automatic recruitment
for education graduates, etc.
In its reaction, MURIC thanked the Nigerian president for putting
smiles on the faces of teachers in the country. The human rights group
described the development as a significant milestone in the history of
education in Nigeria. This was revealed in a statement issued by the Director
of the organization, Professor Ishaq Akintola, on Monday, 12th
October, 2020.
“Nigerian teachers have never had it so good. PMB has raised their
level with the new teaching policy announced last week. Teachers can now raise
their heads with pride as their reward which used to be in heaven has become a
low-hanging fruit just waiting for them to stretch out their hands and pluck.
“The brain drain syndrome which
Nigeria has been experiencing in the education sector is most likely to come to
a halt or reduce drastically as a result of this humane gesture by the PMB-led
Federal Government (FG). With the Buhari initiative, Nigeria is gradually
moving close to global best practices in the welfare of teachers.
“Switzerland
gives teachers the highest average salary in the world which is $110,000. This
is keenly followed by Luxemburg : $100,000, Canada : $74,000, Germany :
$70,000, Netherlands : $67,000, Australia : $67,000, United States : $60,000,
Ireland $53,000 and Denmark : $52,500.
“These are
whopping sums of money and they easily attract Nigerian teachers who are poorly
paid. About 10,000 Nigerian university lecturers were in the United States alone
seeking greener pastures as far back as 2010. This is in spite of the scarcity
of the same lecturers in Nigerian universities. Britain lured 58 Nigerian
doctors with 14 days per month work and N47.9 million annual salary in July
2020.
This point was
corroborated in 2016 by Professor Biodun Ogunyemi, president of the Academic
Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) when he confirmed that Nigeria was in dire
need of no less than 100,000 lecturers (https://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/07/we-need-100000-new-lecturers-for-nigerian-varsities-asuu/). Nigeria had
61,000 lecturers as at 2017 but this was no match for the student population of
1.9 million in the same year.
“At the level of
primary and secondary schools whose teachers are the direct beneficiaries of
the new teaching policy, Nigeria had 764,596 primary school teachers, 292,080
teachers in junior secondary schools and 398,275 teachers at the secondary
school level as at 2016. But that was four years ago. Though recent data is not
readily available, the new policy will impact the lives of no less than two
million teachers in the public sector. This is a tremendous leap.
“It is another feather in PMB’s hat. Buhari is
rebuilding Nigeria and history is going to register him as the ‘Father of Modern
Nigeria’. To those who
criticise MURIC for always praising President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB), we say,
‘What say you on PMB’s largesse to teachers? Is it reforming or reactionary? Is
it Fulanisation or Islamisation? Show us a palatial house bought by PMB in
Paris, London or Luxemburg. Blow the whistle on a single foreign account belonging
to Buhari in any part of the world and we will join you in tongue-lashing him.
PMB will do better without all these unnecessary distractions and unobjective
criticisms.
“We are aware
that Nigeria’s leading political parties are like six and a half dozen and
political prostitutes are in all of them in large number. Few of them have
ideological focus, principle and discipline. Our support for PMB has nothing to
do with his political party or his faith. Rather, the raison d’etre for
our admiration for PMB lies in his austere way of life, his high level
integrity and his Everest-height patience. Above all, we are motivated by love
for our great country, Nigeria.
“On the
contrary, corrupt elements hate PMB because he has closed the tap from which
free and dirty money flows. Such people also hate MURIC because we promote the
ideals of the man they hate. We can understand. It is called transferred
aggression.
“Perhaps
Nigerians will understand us better when, in future, we give equal support to
any leader who brandishes the same qualities particularly if such a leader is
not a Muslim or in the same political party with PMB. MURIC will remain
nonpartisan, detribalised and devoid of any form of gymnastic religiousity.
“We urge Mr. President to remain focused and to
replicate the same feat in the health sector where strikes are too frequent for
comfort. At least two thousand doctors migrated to other countries in the last
few years. As at 2018, only 74,543 doctors attend to a population of 200
million ((https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2019/4/8/nigerias-medical-brain-drain-healthcare-woes-as-doctors-flee).
This stands in sharp contrast to 91,375 practicing medical doctors attending to
37.59 million people in Canada as at 2019. The implication is that in Canada,
241 doctors attend to only 100,000 patients while in Nigeria a single doctor
attends to 2,683 people! Better welfare will make working at home more
attractive to our medical doctors.
“MURIC calls on
teachers around the country to prove their mettle through improved performance,
dedication and high level professionalism. To whom much is given, much is
expected. Our teachers must allow FG’s kind gesture to reflect in the
performance of pupils. The mass failure which was recorded in the WAEC
examinations of 2018 and 2019 is unacceptable. Only 3,102 out of 12, 202 candidates
(26.08%) passed in a minimum of five subjects in 2019. Only 17.5% passed in
2018. It is hoped that PMB’s latest intervention will bring the desired
improvement in the shortest time possible.”
Professor Ishaq Akintola,
Director,
Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)
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