About 1,220 teachers disengaged by the Kwara State Government have appealed to Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq to bring them back to work.
The teachers operate under the name “Sunset Teachers.” They were recruited in 2019, and they made their appeal at a news conference in Ilorin on Saturday.
Their Deputy Coordinator, Mr Wasiu Yunusa, spoke on their behalf. He said the group was employed in January 2019, shortly before the previous administration left office.
The current government later disengaged 2,214 of them. It has since reinstated some, but about 1,220 remain out of work.
Yunusa said the governor gave them an assurance when he took office. According to him, the governor told them they would not suffer for being hired late by his predecessor. He added that the governor described them as his children.
However, the situation changed about a year later. Yunusa said the teachers learned online that all workers engaged in 2019 had been disengaged.
The affected teachers later met the governor to ask why. Yunusa said the governor then asked them to reapply. They did, but most are yet to be reinstated.
Since then, the group has written several appeal letters to the governor. Yunusa said none has produced the outcome they hoped for.
He also described the hardship the teachers now face. Many, he said, look after aged parents and other dependants, and they can no longer meet those responsibilities.
Yunusa urged the governor to act with compassion. He said reinstating the teachers would restore lives, support families and advance education in the state.
