Sacked Osun teachers stage protest, seek stakeholders’ intervention 

By Sunday Oguntuyi, Osogbo

The over 1,500 teachers whose appointments were terminated by Osun State govenor, Ademola Adeleke, on monday called on stakeholders and well meaning citizens of the state to intervene in their matter.

It would be recalled that Governor Adeleke had sacked the primary and secondary teachers employed by the immediate past governor, Adegboyega Oyetola in his final days in office.

Though Adeleke had warned his predecessor not to proceed in making further appointment or employment after the July 16 gubernatorial election in the state.

Meanwhile, the teachers armed with placards with various inscription such as; “1500 Newly Recruited Teachers Urged Mr Governor”, “We Followed Due Process, Please Don’t Send Us Back To The Streets”, “We Lost Four Colleagues Consider Our Plight”, “Osun State Students/Pupils Need Us”, “Please Rescue Us” among others, staged protest in Osogbo on Monday, urging stakeholders in the state to come to their aid.

Speaking, one of the protesting sacked teachers, Adedeji Olufemi Emmanuel said they were professionally qualified to take up the job after they had undergone vigorous screening during the recruitment exercise.

Emmanuel who said he was posted to Ife-East local government area of the state further said that many of the newly recruited had graduated for about 10 to 15 years without doing anything before they got employed by the immediate past governor.

He sought the invention of all stakeholders and well-meaning citizens of the state to help them to plead with Governor to reconsider them.

According to him, “I am one of the 1,500 newly recruited teachers for both primary and secondary schools in Osun. I was given an appointment letter in September 30th, 2022 and the process for this recruitment began in the year 2020 and all through till the year 2022 when we were told to pick up our appointment letters. And immediately we are given an appointment letters we all reported to our primary places of assignments.”

Echoing a similar view, another sacked teacher, Ishola Yunusi, urged Governor Ademola not to send them back to the streets.

Yunusi said they have no place to go any longer as they have a lot of responsibilities on their shoulders.

According to him, “We are here to plead with Governor Ademola Jackson Nurudeen Adeleke to have Mercy on us concerning our appointment as the teachers in state.

“We have tried all our best to get his attention to talk to us to know what our faith is concerning this employment. But haven’t been able to get his response, true be told we are dying of depression.

“Right now we have nowhere to go and we have a lot of responsibilities on our shoulders. Many of us are mothers and fathers and some have ages at home and younger ones we cater for,” he added