Retired public school teachers in Abia State, under the umbrella body of Abia Retired Teachers (ART) Forum, have called on Governor Alex Otti to extend his reformation agenda to include the repositioning of Ministries, Departments and Agency (MDA) for effective service delivery.
Speaking through their spokesperson/coordinator, Mrs Eunice Egbunna, the retired teachers lamented that the present nonchalant and uncommitted attitude of some public servants is serving to worsen the predicaments of retired teachers and the school system.
According to the retired teachers, service delivery to the citizens is an important aspect of governance that will either make or mar any government no matter how well-intentioned.
ART noted that the present structure of most ministries and governmental agencies does not allow for effective service delivery, adding that they are capable of undermining the lofty objectives of the present administration if not checked.
“The present administration ably led by Governor Alex Otti needs to closely monitor the conducts of government ministries and MDAs, as it relates to service delivery.
“Their performances appear to be at variance with the noble objectives of the government. A case study is the Bureau of Establishment.
“I retired from the services of the Secondary Education Board as a teacher, alongside others. Before, then some of us were due for promotion, but we were denied by the past regime.
“In 2022, the promotion interview was conducted, but the result was withheld, thereby denying the affected persons the implementation of their rights and entitlements.
“Just a few weeks for the immediate past regime to wind down, it hurriedly released the promotion results. We started to process the re-evaluation and calculations of our pension allowances to align with our present status.
“But sadly enough, our files have been lying at the Bureau For Establishment since July 18. All efforts made for them to take our files to the Pensions Board have been frustrating.
“This is the case in almost all the ministries and MDAs. We believe that the situation is not in line with the laudable objectives of the present administration.
“We are therefore calling the Governor to closely monitor activities at the government ministries and agencies, so that his good intentions will not be sabotaged,” Mrs Egbuna stated.
ART further stated that part of the fall outs of the delay in processing their files is the National Union of Teachers (NUT) non-payments of retirement entitlements deducted from the salaries of teachers from 2017 to date, noting that the development has not been helpful to their conditions in retirement.
