The Chairman of Katcha Local Government Area of Niger State, Isah Baba Bida, has come beneath scrutiny after a video emerged on-line exhibiting him confronting a teacher at Kafa Primary School, Yahaya Mohammed Sakiwa, over a T-shirt bearing the {photograph} of an opposition politician.
The video, recorded inside a dilapidated classroom, exhibits the council chairman, wearing a swimsuit, confronting the teacher and ordering him to take away the T-shirt.
The chairman reportedly visited the varsity on Monday morning and verbally berated the teacher over his alternative of clothes.
In the viral video, Bida stated he visited the varsity to acquire firsthand details about academics carrying T-shirts bearing the title of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate within the state, Mohammed Nami.
He ordered Sakiwa to take away the shirt and write down his title, in addition to the names of different workers members who had been absent from college.
“I have an interest in this particular primary school. Who asked you to wear this uniform? A teacher wearing an opposition uniform. Write your name and the names of other staff who are absent from the school, and you should remove this shirt,” the chairman stated.
He additionally expressed displeasure over the situation of the varsity and the variety of pupils current when he arrived.
“We are in Kafa Primary School where Kafa stakeholders are criticising the government that their school is broken with no windows, no children, nobody in the school. I only met a teacher in the school and two pupils who don’t even know their left from right. They don’t know the name of their school; they don’t even know their names. I came here for a reason, and I have gotten my results,” he stated.
Dilapidated college infrastructure
Beyond the confrontation, the video highlights the poor state of the varsity’s infrastructure, elevating considerations concerning the situation of primary instructional amenities in components of Niger State.
The lecture rooms seem dilapidated, with broken ceilings and lacking home windows, whereas the partitions and inside surfaces present indicators of degradation.
The situation of the amenities factors to the necessity for upkeep and rehabilitation to supply a extra conducive studying setting for pupils and academics.
Speaking with Daily Trust, Sakiwa, an off-the-cuff teacher on the college, stated the council chairman had reached out to him and his uncles to hunt forgiveness over the incident.
He additionally disputed the chairman’s declare that solely two pupils had been current when he visited, saying the varsity had greater than 200 pupils.
“What the chairman stated, that there have been no pupils within the college, was incorrect. He got here within the morning when youngsters had simply began coming to highschool.
“We have over 200 pupils in that college. You know it’s a rural space. Some youngsters go to the farm early within the morning earlier than coming to highschool. That was why he didn’t meet them.
“He had approached my uncles for forgiveness, and the local government education secretary was also intervening in the matter,” Sakiwa stated.
Condemnation
Reacting to the incident, the PDP governorship candidate in Niger State, Mohammed Nami, condemned what he described because the intimidation and harassment of a teacher by the Katcha council chairman over his political affiliation.
In a press release issued by his media directorate, Nami described the alleged motion as “an abuse of public office and an attempt to undermine citizens’ democratic rights.”
He harassed that “no teacher or public servant should be victimised for exercising their political freedom.”
Nami additionally expressed concern over the poor state of Kafa Primary School, saying its dilapidated infrastructure and lack of primary furnishings highlighted the challenges going through pupils and academics in communities throughout the state.
He blamed Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago’s administration for what he described as insufficient funding for schooling over almost 4 years in workplace.
According to Nami, the scenario was mirrored in an alleged 82 per cent implementation deficit within the 2025 funds, with schooling accounting for under 5.83 per cent of whole expenditure and the state rating twenty ninth amongst Nigeria’s 36 states in schooling funding.
He additional argued that the allocation fell beneath the internationally really useful benchmark of 15 to twenty per cent of whole public expenditure for schooling, underscoring the necessity for elevated funding within the sector.
The PDP candidate referred to as on elected officers and authorities appointees in Niger State to respect public employees’ proper to political affiliation and chorus from intimidating or victimising them over their political selections.
He reaffirmed his dedication to an schooling system that protects academics’ dignity, expands entry to high quality studying and provides each little one, no matter location or background, a good alternative to succeed.
However, the Niger State chapter of the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) cautioned academics towards partaking in partisan political actions.
In a press release issued by its state secretary, Umaru Musa Kuta, the union stated it recognised academics’ constitutional proper to carry political beliefs however harassed that the train of such rights needs to be undertaken responsibly.
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