Teachers in Benue State say they are facing a lot of hardship due to the over 13 months of salaries owed them by the government.
Some of the public primary school teachers have taken to petty trading and farming after school hours to meet some of their household needs.
But, there are others who do nothing outside of their teaching job, other than wait, hopefully, for the state government’s many promises to offset the salary backlog to materialise.
One of the teachers, who declined to mention her name, said she was owed a backlog of 15 months’ salaries.
“Teachers are owed a lot of money by the state government. I’m owed 10 months for 2017, then I haven’t been paid my salary for December last year, which was paid to a select few.
“Also, I have not been paid for February and March this year, which were also paid to a select few, and then October, and November with the entire arrears for this year.
“Our union is still negotiating with the government over it and then the full implementation of promotion since we are not being paid according to our supposed grade levels.
“I can honestly say that coping with the situation has been tough. Personally, I have supportive siblings who reach out to me for food and cash, which keeps me going.
“I have suspended all forms of petty business that I was doing before due to the epileptic payment because when it’s finally paid, prospective customers give reasons why they can’t pay their debts, which is always very obvious.
“This is to avoid any tension and tied up resources. So I have stopped trading for now, till the economy improves,” she said.
