NUT warns Kwara over unpaid allowances, threatens strike

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The National Headquarters of the Nigeria Union of Teachers has faulted the Kwara State Government for what it described as persistent neglect of teachers’ welfare.

This is as the union accused the government of failing to implement the 27.5% Teachers Specific Allowance and the National Harmonized Teachers Retirement Age Act, 2022.

In a letter jointly signed by the National President, Audu Amba, and the Secretary-General, Dr. Clinton Ikpitibo, and made available to The PUNCH on Friday, the union warned that teachers in the state may embark on a full-blown strike if the issues remain unresolved.

The letter, dated November 13, 2025, and acknowledged by the Governor’s Office on November 17, expressed disappointment that despite several engagements, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq’s administration had failed to honour longstanding commitments to the teaching workforce.

The union said, “Between 2023 to date, the matter has remained unresolved whereas your government approved full consolidated salary structures for medical and health workers, nurses, and recently, staff of the judiciary without attending to the age-long demand of teachers.”

It said the government’s refusal to implement the 27.5% TSA for TRCN-certified teachers and 21% for non-certified teachers had pushed educators in the state “into a riotous mode,” noting that patience within the sector had reached its limit.

The NUT also criticised the state for failing to domesticate and implement the National Harmonised Teachers Retirement Age Act, which extends teachers’ retirement age to 65 years or 40 years of service.

“It is no longer news that well over 25 states in the federation have complied. The NUT had expected Your Excellency to take the lead being the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, but this is not the case as at today,” the letter stated.

The union urged the governor to convene an emergency meeting before December 13, 2025, saying a peaceful resolution was still possible if the government acts swiftly.

“We do hope that our interventionist approach is accepted, because to jaw-jaw will be better than to war-war,” it added.

Copies of the letter were also forwarded to the Acting Head of Service, the Commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development, the State Controller of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, as well as the Kwara chapters of the Nigeria Labour Congress and the NUT.

With tensions rising among teachers, the union warned that failure by the government to immediately address the grievances may plunge the state’s education sector into fresh industrial unrest.

More to follow…

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