Udengs Eradiri, the Labour Party’s Governorship candidate in Bayelsa State, has expressed sympathy with teachers in the state for what he described as years of suffering and hardship under Governor Douye Diri’s government.
In a statement given to the DAILY POST to commemorate 2023 Teachers Day, Eradiri promised that if elected on November 11, he will wash away the tears of all teachers in the state.
The LP candidate, who regarded teachers as the core and backbone of all sectors in the state, stated that teachers would have a particular position in his government as part of his People, Education, Agriculture, and Power, or PEAP, Agenda.
Eradiri stated that with the massive resources flowing into the state every month, Bayelsa teachers had no right to complain about non-payment of promotional arrears, minimum wage, paltry salary scale, non-implementation of increase in retirement age, lack of adequate training and retraining, and other challenges.
He observed that, whereas some governments had raised the retirement age from 60 to 65 years old and from 35 to 40 years old, the current Bayelsa government had refused to do so.
Many instructors, according to the LP candidate, are working in bad environmental conditions, with failing infrastructure, a lack of teaching materials, and inadequate welfare, particularly in rural areas, where some students are still learning under trees and in market squares.
“Our teachers are deserving of better. They are supposed to be the happiest people in the country as a result of the state’s vast riches. Unfortunately, this foolish, inept, and selfish leadership has denied teachers their rightful place in the state,” he remarked.
Eradiri also alleged that Diri lacks a deliberate policy paper on the state’s educational growth, and that Bayelsa is in desperate need of a clear direction, road map, and practical strategy to enhance the educational sector and promote teachers’ welfare.
The LP candidate urged teachers not to be misled by the government’s good intentions in the run-up to the election, portraying them as desperate tactics to win the election.
Addressing the teachers, he said:
“Whatever they are promising to do for you now is fake. It is because they want to deceive you again to vote for them. You have been crying over your challenges but they turned deaf ears to your demands. Suddenly, they are coming to make fake promises to you.
“Don’t allow them deceive you again. Whatever they couldn’t do for you three years ago and they are making promises to do them now; it is because another election is around the corner and they need your votes.
“If you mistakenly return them, they will surely abandon you again.
“But I am offering you a better alternative, an opportunity for us to build our education on a solid foundation.
” I have signed a pact with you to make your welfare our priority, to address all your challenges and make you work under environment with globally accepted standard. I am calling on teachers to better the future of their children by voting for me and the LP because I will not disappoint you.”