By Uzair Adam Imam
Public school teachers in Kano State have decried the way the state Ministry of Education allegedly extorts money from them amidst biting economic hardship in Nigeria.
A fresh secondary school teacher with NCE earns an estimated monthly salary of N32,000, an amount that cannot buy a bag of rice which is sold at N48,000, while degree holders take home N42,000 monthly.
The teachers, who clamoured for government intervention, alleged that the ministry forced them to pay a certain amount of money anytime their wallets ran low.
They described the unjustified way of imposition of tax on them as a new form of slavery.
The Daily Really gathered that the ministry recently asked the teachers to pay N2,500 each for mandatory computer training. They said even teachers who studied and taught computer science in schools could not escape the recent extortion.
However, one of the teachers, who preferred anonymity, confided in our reporter that that was not the first time the ministry allegedly extorted them.
He said, “This is not the first time we were asked to pay such kind of money. Just in July, a few days before Eid, all teachers in Kano were asked to pay N500 each.
“None of us dared to ask what the money was for. But we later realized that the money was just shared among a few selfish individuals,” the teacher said.
Another teacher, Sulaiman Muhammad, revealed that that was the third time he was forced to pay such an amount of money.
Muhammad said, “We paid N1,000 sometime around January to February. In July also, we paid N500 each and, now, N2,500.”
Ishaq Abdulfatah (not his real name) called on the government to look into the menace with a view to bringing it to an end, adding that “we are all frustrated with the development.”
He said, “Everyone knows about the economic hardship in Nigeria and what the masses are going through. We are struggling to survive on our low-level income.
“But sadly enough, these people extort money unjustifiably from us. Government should do something about it.”
Another teacher said, “On Monday, a delegation from the zonal office came to our school and told us about the computer training. They said every one of us must pay that money.
“He even said if we like, we shouldn’t go for the training. But what is more important is to pay the money. This surprised me very much.”
However, when contacted, Kano State Ministry of Education spokesperson Aliyu Yusuf told our reporter that the ministry was not aware of the alleged extortion.
He said, “I came to know about this development just now. But since you talked about secondary school teachers, I think you should go to Kano State Secondary Schools Management Board (KSSSMB) for further inquiries.”
But, in what appeared surprising to many, the KSSSBM Public Relations Officer, Ibrahim Baba, also claimed to be unaware of the development.
He said, “The only thing I know is the N1,000 that was initially collected was for ID cards. Apart from that, we didn’t collect any money from any teacher.”
