Thousands of teachers in both public and private schools in Enugu State have endorsed the Governor of the State, Peter Mbah, for a second term, citing improved teachers’ welfare, increased education funding, promotions and other interventions.
The teachers also endorsed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, whose economic reforms, Mbah said, had made more resources available to states to embark on massive projects such as the construction of over 267 Smart Green Schools across all the 260 political wards of Enugu State.
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The teachers made their position known through an estimated 12,000 of their members, who marched through parts of Enugu metropolis before holding an endorsement rally at Okpara Square, Enugu, on Saturday under the auspices of Teachers for Grassroots Movement (TGM), a Government House statement disclosed on Saturday.
The Chairman of the Enugu State chapter of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Theophilus Odo, in his speech, described Mbah as a God-sent leader, reeling out the steps taken by the governor to address the challenges that had bedevilled the education sector in the state before now.
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“On behalf of the NUT, I want to say that we are happy today because God has given us a caring governor, Peter Mbah.
“He was instrumental to the domestication of the harmonised retirement benefits for the teachers even before he became governor.
“The building of over 260 Smart Green Schools is a very positive change. Our teachers and children can now compete favourably with their peers in other places.
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“He has started recruiting thousands of teachers, and he is also building smart teachers by ensuring that they attend symposiums and other training programmes to gain more knowledge.
“There are no outstanding promotions, and our salaries are coming at the appropriate time.
“So, we, the teachers, are endorsing our governor for a second term in office. The votes of our teachers are only for Governor Mbah,” Odo stated.
On his part, the Chairman of the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) in Enugu State, Nelson Agu, said private school teachers were joining such a rally in the state for the first time ever to encourage what he described as Mbah’s revolution in the education sector.
He noted that the introduction of Smart Green Schools had challenged private schools in the state to improve.
“When you came and started the idea of over 260 Smart Green Schools, we thought we were out of service. But we went and upgraded our schools to meet the required standards.
“Importantly, the idea of allocating 33 per cent of the budget to the education sector for three consecutive years is something to laud your administration for,” Agu told Mbah.
The Chairman of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) in the state, Simeon Akaeme, said the Mbah administration had restored the dignity of teachers and made life better through huge investments in infrastructure and social services.
The Director-General of the Teachers for Grassroots Movement, Dr Nwakaego Aja, described education as a springboard to liberation, self-reliance and economic development amid the systemic collapse experienced by the nation.
Aja assured him of the total support of the over 30,000 teachers in the state.
“Through experiential learning and innovation, you brought answers to the quest by our nationalists, elevating education to a catalyst for economic development,” she asserted.
“We, the teachers, are not ingrates. We see what you are doing. You promised disruptive innovation, and you have delivered disruptive innovation. That is why we are here.
“We promise you this: we will take your good news to the communities, to the staff rooms, to every market, to every polling unit, and we will deliver. Our vote is for the All Progressives Congress (APC) from bottom to top,” she stressed.
The Commissioner for Education and patron of TGM, Professor Ndubueze Mbah, said the endorsement by the teachers in their thousands was a tip of the iceberg of the support coming his way and that of the President ahead of the 2027 general election.
He added, “On behalf of every teacher gathered here today, I have one message, and that is to thank you for believing and investing in the vision that it is through education that Enugu State will attain greater heights. You have committed so many resources to giving every Enugu child a future.”
In his remarks, Governor Mbah said the endorsement meant so much to him beyond the 2027 polls, as the future his administration wanted to build for the state depended on education and the teachers.
“Today’s endorsement carries a particular significance, and that is because everything we do, all the promises we have made, all the projections we have made — growing Enugu’s economy, becoming one of the top three states in terms of GDP, making Enugu State the number one state in terms of investment, business, living and tourism — are in the hands of our teachers.
“That is why it appears as if we are insane about education when you consider what we are doing in the sector —building over 7,000 classrooms. And we are not talking about the details because we do not talk about 464 furniture items, we do not talk about 25,000 desktop computers, we do not talk about over 5,000 tablets or the free feeding and uniforms, among others.
“For us, it is about transformation —transforming an education system. And that whole transformation, whether we fail or succeed, would lie largely in your hands.
“That is why, when I say that I see you and I value you, it comes from the depths of my heart because I understand what you go through to inculcate this knowledge into our children so that we can become that great state. So, we love you and appreciate you dearly,” he emphasised.
The wife of the Governor, Mrs Nkechinyere Mbah, who was represented by the Commissioner for Children, Gender Affairs and Social Development, Mrs Ngozi Enih, said the endorsement was a great reward for a government that had made education the cornerstone of its development agenda.
The event attracted senior government officials, political and community leaders, among others.
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