Sir, I see my mother getting old before my eyes, working hard without a corresponding living wage that could make life meaningful. She is the best teacher I have ever seen, but see what the government is doing to her and her colleagues.

Those were the first words of OE (an alias to protect their identity) in their interaction with FIJ.

Earlier in August, OE lamented the unpleasant experience and the disappointment their mother had faced working for the Ministry of Defence Education Services Department.

“My mother has been a teacher at an Armed Forces school for over 20 years, yet her appointment was not regularised as promised. This was not for a lack of qualifications but because the system was unfair. Every year, she and her colleagues were promised regularisation but nothing happened,” OE said.

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The Ministry of Defence controls and supervises the 108 Nigerian Armed Forces primary and secondary schools across Nigeria. These schools are either Nigerian Navy schools, Command schools for the Nigerian Army or Nigerian Air Force Schools for the Nigerian Air Force. According to the data available on the Ministry of Defence’s website, these schools have about 3,802 qualified teachers.

In 1999, the ministry employed several teachers as temporary staff members and posted them to some of these schools in different communities nationwide.

Oladimeji Nabilah (not real name), OE’s mother, was one of those temporarily employed in 1999. In her appointment letter, there was a clause that the Navy was not mandated to convert her appointment to a permanent role.

“You must be advised that the Navy is not under any obligation to make your appointment permanent,” the letter stated in part.

Even with the above clause, the military authorities kept holding meetings with these employees and giving assurances to upgrade their employment to a permanent status. A permanent employment status could entitle them to pensions, gratuities and other privileges guaranteed by the Pensions Act. Naturally, assurances raised these teachers’ hope and they kept working hard without considering looking for another job elsewhere.

ABOUT TWO DECADES LATER — SACK LETTERS

By 2016, Nabilah had worked as a temporary teacher for 17 years with a branch of the Armed Forces school in Lagos State. Within the system, teachers in her category are called “TY”, an abbreviation for “temporary” staff.

Nabilah kept working while hoping to become a permanent employee someday. Some of her colleagues were doing the same. However, they were sacked in 2016. The headteacher in her school invited all the temporary teachers to her office and handed them sack letters each.

On the day they were sacked, some of them could not hold back their tears that the institution they had worked for and hoped to become permanent workers had decided to reward them with a contract termination. As the authorities decided it no longer needed them, these teachers went home empty-handed, FIJ learnt.

Part of the sack letter read, “During the School Management Sub Committee meeting, it was agreed that all temporary staff of Nigerian Navy Primary Schools be relieved of their employment. Consequently, I am directed to convey same decision and to formally inform you that your employment terminates with effect from Friday, 30, September 2016.”

Nabilah’s contract termination came after spending 17 years of her life working in a military school.

“We were employed since 1999, hoping to be regularised based on the commitments made by the ministry. In fact, they kept promising us every year that they would regularise our employment,” Nabilah told FIJ in September.

“Every time, they would be telling us Abuja [the military’s leadership from the headquarters] is coming. I am unable to start quoting years now, but there was a time we were summoned for a verification exercise at the Air Force Base in Ikeja and we received the same regularisation assurances. We have done countless numbers of verifications and none gave us the promised upgrade.”

Nabilah and her colleagues in Lagos were not the only ones affected. All the temporary workers, hired in 1999 and years after throughout the country, in all the Armed Forces pre-varsity institutions were laid off in the same year 2016.

As a condition to be regularised, the authorities directed the TY workers to acquire a teaching licence from the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN). So, they applied for the licence but it was not ready until 2017.

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“WORKING LIKE AN ELEPHANT, EATING LIKE AN ANT”

Many of these teachers started with a N2,500 salary in 1999. Not even the series of national minimum wage increases translated to increased pay for them.

Nabilah said her colleagues were earning N16,000 when she was sacked with a university degree. That salary was N2,000 lower than the applicable N18,000 minimum wage at the time.

Because they were temporary teachers, they were excluded from benefitting from all social interventions including food and financial aid from the federal government in times of economic downturn, Nabilah said.

Nabilah said only permanent staff, known as MOD (Ministry of Defence) staff, were always the beneficiaries of these incentives.

“They will give permanent staff (MOD) palliatives and incentives but the TY would be ignored every time. The system was gravely unfair to us. Some of us are now old without being able to sponsor our children to tertiary institutions,” she told FIJ.

“I was teaching four classes daily. I am ashamed to tell people that I was being paid N22,000 monthly because they would mock me. Some of my colleagues were paid N16,000 per month. We worked like elephants and ate like ants. Even if the government increased the minimum wage one million times, we are never going to be considered.”

TEMPORARY JOB RESUMES AS PTA STEPS IN

About a month after the temporary teachers lost their jobs, the Parents-Teachers Associations (PTA) worked out a model to retain the teachers.

The PTAs held meetings with the various school managements and expressed their willingness to offer the teachers another temporary appointment because of the value they brought to the system and the potential crisis students could face without enough teachers.

Therefore, the PTA issued them temporary appointment letters dated October 10, 2016, with a clause similar to the 1999 appointment letter: “You must note that the PTA is not under any obligation to make your appointment permanent.”

Having worked for 17 years and another 8 years on two temporary jobs within the same state system, Nabilah and many of her colleagues who are all graduates have spent 25 straight years as temporary workers. By 2034 when they would have attained their retirement age, these teachers would have spent 35 years of their productive lives on unofficial working conditions with federal institutions.

“I joined the school as a vibrant young lady and I am getting old. Sadly, some officials would sometimes say the ministry would not regularise employees who are over 50 years old. Imagine using us for decades and you are prompting this kind of idea? That is a use-and-dump strategy,” Nabilah explained.

INTIMIDATION FOLLOWS PCC INTERVENTION

FIJ understands that some affected teachers reported their plight to the Public Complaints Commission (PCC) and the National Assembly in September. PCC is a federal agency tasked with helping Nigerians seek redress for administrative injustices.

Shortly after the Ministry of Defence became aware of this petition, key government officials began calling some figures among these sacked teachers. They were asked why they went ahead to report to the PCC.

FIJ dialled the contact number (097000099) available on the PCC’s website on Tuesday, but got a programmed response saying “You are not allowed to call this number”. An email FIJ sent seeking comments had not been responded to at press time.

Akin Rotimi, the National Assembly spokesperson, did not answer phone calls on Tuesday. He had not responded to a text message at press time.

In order to have a common representation, all the teachers have constituted themselves into a group nationally. FIJ heard the ministry has now invited their leaders, inspiring fear of arrest and detention among them.

As these representatives are scheduled to visit the ministry on Wednesday, the teachers said they turned to a three-day fasting and prayers effort against all threats and for a desired outcome.

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FIJ sought the response of the Ministry of Defence, copying the Nigerian Army, the Nigerian Air Force and the Nigerian Navy, in an email on Monday and the same email was resent on Wednesday. However, no response had been received at press time.

FIJ also spoke with Tukur Gusau, a brigadier-general and the Defence Headquarters spokesperson, on Wednesday.

Gusau said the Defence Headquarters was not responsible for the schools’ affairs and promised to send the Ministry of Defence Director of Information’s phone number. FIJ had not received the phone number at press time.