Governor Sule: 80% of Illegally Recruited Teachers in Nasarawa Unable to Write Acceptance Letters

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Nasarawa State Governor Abdullahi Sule has revealed that around 80 percent of the secondary school teachers who were illegally recruited in the state are unable to write an acceptance letter.

He made this comment during a meeting with a coalition of Christian denominations under the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) at the Government House.

Governor Sule firmly rejected the request from CAN’s Nasarawa State Chairman, Very Reverend Dr. Sunday Emma, to absorb the illegally recruited teachers, highlighting that many of them were unqualified for the teaching profession.

“You’re asking me to absorb them. Reverend, look at it from both sides. I’m not trying to cause problems, but I’ve been told that many of these individuals who paid money aren’t qualified to teach. Some reportedly paid as much as 600,000 to 700,000 naira for positions that pay less than 100,000 naira. I’ve also been told that 80 percent of them can’t even write acceptance letters. If you were in my position as Governor, and you knew all of this, how could we be helping them without hurting our education system? We’d be completely neglecting the need for education reform,” he stated.

Governor Sule explained that when he took office in 2019, he tasked education experts with conducting a baseline survey of schools across the state. The resulting report revealed the dire state of the education sector and the urgent need for qualified teachers, along with other reforms.

“The report came back, and they said we needed infrastructure, which we’ve provided; they needed curriculum improvements, which we’ve addressed. But they also emphasized the need for teachers, recommending that we start by hiring 1,000 teachers. I approved the employment of those 1,000 teachers,” he said.

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However, Governor Sule disclosed that the Teachers’ Service Commission (TSC), which he recently suspended, had exceeded the approved number by hiring over 1,000 additional teachers without authorization.

“They brought me 50 additional slots, knowing there would be many requests for positions. I told them, ‘No, don’t bring me any slots. Employ based on merit, not through connections. I don’t want to get involved with that.’ The reason is simple – our educational system is in a terrible state, and we need to improve it. If we employ teachers based on favoritism, we won’t have the quality we need,” he explained.

Governor Sule also criticized the reluctance of many recruited teachers to work in rural areas, with many opting to remain in urban centers instead.

“You can’t bring in teachers who won’t work where they’re needed most – in rural areas. Many refuse to go to places like Toto or Gudi, instead preferring to stay in Lafia, Akwanga, Keffi, or Karu. These are the issues we’re facing,” he said.

Emphasizing the need to uphold educational standards, he added, “I don’t want you to think I’m not helping. The reality is that I’m willing to help, but I won’t compromise our education system.”

Governor Sule announced plans for a fresh interview process for all the recruited teachers, including the initial 1,000 approved teachers, to ensure only the most qualified candidates remain.

“We’ll conduct a fair selection process to ensure only competent teachers are retained. We will no longer allow these kinds of issues. We can’t succeed if we fail to do things the right way. My goal is to make Nasarawa State’s education system the best it can be, and we can only do that by being honest with ourselves,” he concluded.

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