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Sack Saga: Kwara govt lays off media heads, fires teachers over protest

By Mumini AbdulKareem

Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq of Kwara state on Wednesday approved the removal of all heads all of state-owned media.

Those affected include the General Manager of Radio Kwara, Abdullateef Adebowale Adedeji, his counterpart in Kwara State Television Service, Alhaji Abdulfatai Adebowale and that of The Herald Newspaper, Abdulrazaq Adebayo.

The approval for their removal was contained in a statement signed by the state Commissioner for Communications, Alhaji Muritala Olanrewaju.

According to the, the Governor while thanking the former General Managers directed that the most senior officer in the three media houses should take over pending the appointment of substantive chief executive Officers of the media houses.

In another development, The Kwara State Government has dismissed some teachers for participating in a protest exercise.

It was gathered that the dismissed teachers were indicted for taking part in a rally against the state government over the sacking of workers late last year.

A letter, with reference number KWSUBEB/S/S/2487/T/4, and dated February 12th, 2020, addressed by the SUBEB management to one of the dismissed teachers, Sanni Rufai of Government Girls Day Secondary School, Okesuna, who was a junior staff, explained that the termination of appointment took immediate effect.

In the letter of their dismissal, one of the teachers was dismissed for participating in a protest exercise on behalf of his colleagues while on probation.

The committee said the teacher’s actions breached the PRS 04401 law, and therefore affirmed the termination of his appointment. Others affected by this exercise also include a vice-principal who was reportedly demoted.

But defending the action, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Abdulrazaq Abdulrahman, Rafiu Ajakaye in a social media post said Sanni violated all known rules of engagement, leading to the decision to relieve him of his job.

“He was one of the sunset workers who this administration graciously kept despite pressure to disengage them like many states did. When the government called for screening of these workers to determine who’s qualified and who’s not, the passed and was asked to proceed with his job, like many others. He holds NCE, so he has the basic qualification to teach. That is a show of maturity and good conscience by the administration.

“We must note something however: he, like many others so engaged in the twilight of the past administration, was on probation and …was being watched to see if his employer is satisfied with his output and other considerations, including good conduct.

“Authorities said he proceeded to lead a strike against government because some fellows with no teaching qualifications were asked to go in line with the national teaching guidelines. Authorities said the fellow led the strike on a working day without getting any approval from his superior/employer. He’s not a union leader who the law permits to do so after following the rules of engagement. There was no notice of such industrial action served on his employer (the government). He was rightly queried, in line with global best practice. He appeared before a disciplinary committee to defend himself. The committee found him guilty of violations of extant civil service rules as quoted in the letter disengaging him. It should be noted that his case was an isolated one relating to protest. No other person has been disengaged for protest”, he submitted.

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