The Nigeria Union of Teachers on Saturday warned the Lagos State Government against coercing its members to resume for the 2014/2015 academic session on Monday.
The warning came as the union alleged that the state government had not provided any Ebola Virus Disease kit in schools in the state.
The state NUT Chairman, Mr. Segun Raheem, made this known in a telephone interview with our correspondent.
Raheem, who insisted that members of the union would not resume until the EVD facilities were in place in schools, noted that the state government had resorted to intimidation to force them to resume on Monday.
According to him, the state government has summoned all public school heads to Alausa, Ikeja for an emergency meeting on Sunday (today).
He said, “As of today, (Saturday), the Lagos State Government has not put in place any EVD gadget in schools. And in line with the directive of the NUT leadership at the national level for the provision of certain Ebola safety requirements, we shall not be in school on Monday. However, the state government still has time between now and Monday to provide those basic EVD kits. It is only when these provisions have been made that we can resume.
“Again, I want to admonish the state government that it should stop the threat to the heads of schools. I just got information that the governor has invited all the school heads as well as their assistants tomorrow (Sunday) at the Blueroof, Alausa by 3pm for an emergency meeting. I believe the governor as a Senior Advocate of Nigeria knows the implication of any attempt to threaten them.”
However, the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools in the South-West met on Saturday in Ibadan, Oyo State and resolved that its members in Lagos and Ondo states would resume on Monday.
The NAPPS Lagos State President, Mr. Yomi Otubela, who confirmed this to our correspondent in a telephone interview moments after the meeting, said its members had made adequate preparations for classes to begin on Monday.
According to him, NAPPS members in the zone have not only provided the EVD kits, they have also trained their teachers on the basic rudiments of checking the virus.
Otubela, while decrying the position of the Lagos NUT on resumption date, noted that the state government had declared the state Ebola-free.
He added, “We should not spread the fear of Ebola Virus Disease but the facts of the disease. Those of us in Lagos and Ondo states are resuming on Monday, September 22 in tune with the Federal Government directive. We are, nonetheless, shocked that states, such as Ogun, Ekiti, Oyo and Osun have extended their resumption date.”
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