Some teachers employed by the immediate administration of Adegboyega Oyetola in Osun State staged a peaceful protest on Monday in Osogbo, urging Governor Ademola Adeleke to reconsider his decision to disengage them. About 1,500 teachers recruited into the service between September and October 2022 by the previous administration were sacked through an executive order by Adeleke. Those teachers, along with other workers hired by Oyetola’s government, wrote to the governor asking that they not be dismissed.
The protesters gathered in the Olaiya area, carrying placards with various inscriptions and appealing to relevant stakeholders in the state’s affairs to intervene. Speaking on behalf of the demonstrators, Olufemi Adedeji said their recruitment had followed due process and pleaded with Adeleke to reinstate them to their duty posts. “I am one of the 1,500 newly recruited teachers for both primary and secondary schools in Osun. I received an appointment letter on 30 September 2022, and the recruitment process began in 2020. We were immediately given appointment letters and reported to our primary places of assignment. We have been dutiful, patriotic citizens of this state, and upon resumption we were gladly received by teachers, students, and the leadership of the Parents and Teachers Association. We worked for about four months without any reward until the new government, under Governor Ademola Adeleke, ordered a review of our appointment. Since then we have made every effort to call the Governor’s attention and plead for mercy, but we have received no response. We are pleading with our Governor, all stakeholders, and well‑meaning citizens of the state to reconsider our case and give us a positive response. We are dying in silence,” he said.
The governor’s spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, could not be reached for comment; calls to him went unanswered, and a reply to a text message sent on the issue is still pending.
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