About 100 primary and secondary school teachers under the employ of the Rivers State Government have staged a protest at the Government House, Port Harcourt, over their alleged exclusion from the N100,000 Christmas bonus approved for civil servants in the state by Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
The protesters said other civil servants in the state had received theirs along with their December 2023 salary, but wondered why they didn’t benefit.
Recall that Governor Fubara had prior to the Yuletide holidays approved the bonus for each civil servant, a development which ignited wild jubilation from the workers who are members of the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress in the state.
The aggrieved teachers occupied the Government House along Azikiwe Road in Port Harcourt, expressing displeasure of the development and called on the state government to quickly intervene.
Speaking to newsmen, one of the teachers simply identified as Oke appealed to Governor Fubara to prevail on those responsible to release the funds to them.
She said all civil servants in the state were in a joyous mood when they heard of the approval by the governor, but that the joy of the teachers were cut short when some of them did not receive the alert even till January 2024. She stated, “We were so happy when we heard that the governor approved N100,000 Christmas bonus for all civil servants. So, we assumed that the last Christmas was going to be very great for us. But as we speak today, this is January; a few of us as you can see have not received the Christmas bonus.
“On Monday schools will be resuming. Most of us travelled and we have returned.
“We have exhausted all we have. So we are here this morning to register our complaints to our dear loving governor to help us talk to those who are holding our Christmas bonus.
“Our N100, 000 Christmas bonus should be released because it will go a long way in cushioning the effect of the hardship especially in this January.”
Others who spoke accused their banks and the state Universal Basic Education Board for failing to address the matter.
An official of the government who addressed the protesting teachers commended them for their peaceful disposition and assured that their complaints will be looked into.