Pensioners and SUBEB Teachers are Crying for Salaries

by Concerned Teacher

 

Allah does not burden a soul beyond that it can bear,” the Qur’an says in Surah Al-Baqarah (2:286). But today, Kwara State’s educators and retirees are bearing an inhumane amount of silence, starvation, and uncertainty. The question is, how long will the government continue to test the patience of individuals who have faithfully served their state without any wrongdoing?

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The pension that my mother receives every month has been missing for the past two months. The fact that these small amounts hardly cover their basic needs is excruciating, but the fact that March’s pension, which was due during the beautiful Eid-el-Fitr, never materialised is much more so. Sitting with empty hands and heavy thoughts, she missed out on the joy and appreciation that Muslims meet for at this time. Does a government that profess to serve its citizens expect this kind of empathy?

 

This kind of indifference is unfortunately common. Most KWSUBEB teachers in the state have not received their salaries correctly.and appropriately. Since new local government heads took control, salary delays have become the order of the day. Teachers, the very architects of our future, are left foraging for survival. No contact, no apology, only brutal silence from a government elected to serve.

 

The same folks who cried “Otoge!” (enough is enough) now murmur in confusion. When the present administration wanted power, it promised relief, progress, and dignity. However, they should never forget. Pàṣán tí a fi na ìyàlé, ó ń bẹ l’aja fún ìyàwó (the whip used for the first wife is hidden in the ceiling for the second). Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, remember: the same way they dismissed the past government when their silence grew louder than their service, the people may do it again. The ballot box remembers.

 

One would expect a governor who acquired the title “People’s Governor” to appreciate the Prophet Muhammad’s (SAW) warning: “Each of you is a shepherd, and each of you is responsible for his flock.” But when the shepherd falls asleep, the flock scatter. When individuals entrusted with power leave the people, they attract unrest, resentment, and eventual rejection. The silence of Governor Abdulrazaq in the face of these atrocities is as loud as thunder. Not even an official explanation has been presented. Not even an attempt to ease the frustration. Even Shakespeare’s King Lear cried when he witnessed the storm roaring while his people suffered. Do we now have leaders colder than Lear, more uncaring than Pharaoh?

 

The Renewed Hope programme of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu appears to have overlooked Kwara. While Abuja preaches compassion and inclusiveness, Kwara drags its feet in neglect. How can we develop a new hope when retirees suffer and teachers beg?

Governor Abdulrazaq, this is not leadership; this is desertion. Service is not in the photographs you capture but in the lives you touch. Power is not about position but purpose. A kì í fi èébú ṣe ìṣàkóso, a government is not run on excuses. The teachers are exhausted. The pensioners are exhausted. And the masses are watching. Take heed, Your Excellency. Lead with justice and mercy. Remember the weight of amanah (faith). Right the wrongs while time permits, before history stamps your name in the ink of disappointment.

 

For if “a stitch in time saves nine”, a noble move now may save an entire legacy tomorrow.