By Lawal A. Dogara, Kaduna
Thousands of Protesters on Friday took to the streets of Kaduna in support of Governor Nasir Ahmed El-Rufai’s stance to sack workers and teachers who were said to have failed the state government examination.
The protesters who commenced their activity from the Murtala Mohammed square through Independence way, Muhammadu Buhari Way, through Ali Akilu road and Sokoto Road chanted solidarity songs with placards carrying various inscriptions in support of the government’s quest to provide qualitative education in the state.
The pro government protest came 24 hours after leaders of the labour unions and the Nigeria Union of Teachers joined others in Kaduna state to protest the sack of 21,000 teachers who failed a competency test organized by the government.
The pro-government group accused the Nigeria Labor Congress of deliberately sabotaging the genuine commitment of the state government to transform the educational sector for their selfish interests.
They insist that the government’s decision is meant to protect the future of the children.
Meanwhile, Governor Nasir El-Rufai while speaking on Channels Television reiterated his stance to sack the teachers who failed the competency test in spite of the protests, stressing that he will not rescind the government decision under whatever guise.
In the interview, he said he will not succumb to intimidation over his quest to ensure qualitative education for children in the state like he acquired and will stop at nothing to ensure that, not minding what it will cost him.
According to the Governor, “no amount of protests will make the government change its position.
“This is a problem that we confronted within months of coming into office and we took extraordinary measures to steady the situation. We knew there would be a resistance but for us, education is one of the foundational components of building a modern society and we are not going to compromise on the quality of education and the quality of education relies on the quality of the teacher more than any other tool or infrastructure” he said.
Some of the pro-government protesters who spoke to our correspondent said, they were protesting in support of the government to weed out unqualified teachers and redundant workers in the state.
