A newly employed teacher in Anambra State who did not want to reveal her identity for security reasons has alleged that the Governor Chukwuma Soludo-led state government offered primary school teachers a job in June 2024 and demanded that they backdate their acceptance letter to October 2023.
In a call to Governor Soludo for an urgent intervention, she narrated how she resigned from her previous job in Lagos and returned to Anambra, which is her state of origin and was among the 3000 teachers recently recruited by the state government.
Descirbing the job as a modern slavery, she said the teaching job employment offer letter from the state Post Primary School Service Commission came with two years probation, 10 years compulsory service and a N397,471 annual salary, which translates to N33,122.65 monthly salary.
SaharaReporters sighted the offer letter dated June 7, 2024 and signed by the Secretary of the Commission, Anagor Benedine Ngozi, with the conditions she mentioned.
She said, “I studied a course in Education, and came out with Second Class Honors, Upper Division. I started my second job in Lagos state in the educational sector and my TRCN certificate saved the school from being shut down.
“In October 2023, I heard that my State government was recruiting teachers. I applied and my name was among the 3,000 selected. So, on the 1st day of April, 2024, I put in my one month Notice of Resignation.
“The best phase of my life (as I thought) commenced as I travelled back for the Anambra State Teaching job with so much excitement and hope. Alas! after staying for almost two months at home with no Employment Letter in sight and a fast depleting bank account, I nearly gave up.
“A few more weeks later, the State sent for us to come and pick up our Employment Letters. I went and collected mine but when I saw the salary, nature of employment and conditions, I nearly went mad with incredulity or maybe slumped.
“My dear State offered a temporary employment with 2 (Two) years probation period, no possibility of transfer for 10 years and a meagre salary of N33,122.65, tax excluded. (Annual salary of N397,471.00).”
She alleged, “My dreams died as I stared at the Offer of employment. The worst is that I and others that received the offer letter were told to backdate our Acceptance letter to bear a date in October, 2023 which raises the suspicion that since October 2023.
“Someone in government has been collecting salaries of all those recently offered employment in July, 2024 and wants to use our Acceptance letters to cover up, isn’t it? What is the reason for the backdate? Something is fishy and should be investigated.
“I dare ask: what is the hope of an educator in a state like my dear Anambra under a Professor of repute and governor?
“Does governor Soludo know that such an appalling offer is being made to new recruits who came from far and near to serve in their own state and communities.
“How in the world would N33,000+ be enough for transportation or even rent, let alone, for a month and within the next 10 years of my life?
“I used to be a good writer but I feel my writing skills have disappeared from me at the instance of this ordeal.
“All I feel is depressed in the state I longed to return to and help build through education.
“The saddest thing is watching my parents get older and I wonder how this meagre Salary that can’t even fend for me would be enough to cater for them. At this point, they are catering for me.
“For someone in her early 30s, I ask again, what is the hope of an educator in Anambra state or in Nigeria as a whole? This is too much to bear. I need urgent help.”
However, when SaharaReporters contacted the Chairperson of the Anambra State Post-Primary School Service Commission (PPSSC), Prof. Nkechi Ikediugwu, she denied the allegation, saying that the person who made the allegation was being induced by political opponents to paint the state government black.
In a response to SaharaReporters’ inquiry on the allegation, the PPSSC boss explained that the advert for the recruitment of teachers by the Commission was posted online on September 26, 2023 and application from interested candidates lasted till October 14, 2023.
Ikediugwu said that at the issuance of the appointment papers, “Candidates were asked to backdate their handwritten application for teaching job to October 3, 2023 and not Acceptance letter.”
According to her, “This is to tally with the month they applied online.
“The N397.471.80 salary captured in the appointment letter is the basic, other allowances are yet to be added to sum up the total amount as the system demands.
“It is clear the writer is being induced by political opponents to paint the government of Anambra State black by claiming that salaries of candidates that are yet to resume work are being collected by someone in government since October. This is laughable.
“The assumption date for the newly recruited teachers is 1st September 2024 (new academic session) and the effective date for payment of their salaries is 1st September 2024.”
Ikediugwu said Governor Soludo-led state government recruited 5,000 teachers in the 2022/2023 session and another 3,115 teachers in 2024.
“The general public should therefore disregard the report of the anonymous writer as it is baseless and lacks merit,” she said.
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