He wears two complementary hats – one as Assistant SecretaryGeneral, Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) and the other as Chairman Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), in charge of ImoState.

Bold and articulate, Anyadike describes himself as the “foremost labour leader in ImoState” and, like most labour leaders likes to hear his own voice.

But the Agbala-born trade unionist doesn’t make noise for nothing. He heads the largest trade union and speaks for thousands of workers, teachers especially. He finds himself in hot water sometimes but most times he is the one who turns on the heat on employers when labour is unhappy.

Right now, Anyadike and his unions are at loggerheads with Government over the following issues:

Lack of staff promotion  –  Imo workers haven’t been promoted since 2008

Wrongful retirement of Permanent Secretaries by the Governor,

Suspension of the Joint Council.

Non-payment of retirement benefits to primary school teachers.

Unauthorized Deduction of 1% from workers’ salaries, and

Non-payment of entitlements to former Imo Concord Hotel and ADAPALM workers.

These are the major problems facing labour at the time and giving Anyadike additional gray hairs. He says government is making avoidable mistakes by choosing to “remain a baby” in labour matters even after two years in office.

“We were keeping quite because they have not been in governance before. But they have stayed up to two years; there are certain things they are supposed to know. They are old enough to know everything about governance. They shouldn’t be in a hurry to make pronouncements,” the union boss said, regarding Government’s recent statement about Labour’s Joint Council.

“On the part of labour, they should also know that it is not everything they can do. Their activities are controlled by the labour centres and they cannot take a decision without consultation,” he added.

Anyadike said labour has filed a trade dispute against Government over the “unauthorized” 1% deduction from teachers’ salaries.

“The governor called workers to Heroes Square and said he wanted them to be giving him 1% so he can be taking care of our brothers and sisters that have one ailment or the other. ‘I gave you N10,000 and I am pleading with you to give me just 1% of your salary’.  They shouted wooooo!

“It’s an abrasion under labour laws because government didn’t take permission and didn’t inform us. We can take government to court in that respect. We are saying that deduction should stop and we have filed a trade dispute against Imo State Government.”

The labour leader is also hopping mad over the indiscriminate retirement of permanent secretaries (PS). He said this is an offense under Labour.

“We are saying although it’s the responsibility of the Governor to appoint PSs through the civil service commission. The governor has no right to retire them. The rightful people to retire those who have stayed their term is the civil service commission. A civil servant is not a politician.”

Regarding the avalanche of unpaid pensions, he noted:

“At the primary school level, we have about ten months of uncleared pension although we have met and started looking at the modalities to offset this. At the Imo Palm plantation, former ADAPAM , the modalities have started but nobody has received one naira.”

Although critical of Government for the above reasons, the labour man gave kudos for free education.

“I will say that Owelle’s administration, because of his free education, has done a lot as far as teachers’ welfare is concerned. Salaries are paid unlike in some past administrations.

“He has approved N10,000 twice as wardrobe allowance because of the uniform he asked them to wear… He equally did Christmas for them, giving schools bags of rice. To that extent, I will say he’s ok but there are still lapses.”

Anyadike said there are lapses in the provision of infrastructure. Other reports say some children take their classes sitting on bare floor in schools, yet Government is claiming to have done wonders in education. School children are said to be contributing money for chalk in some schools and jostling for space with teachers in their limited and ill-equipped classrooms. One of the affected schools is Ikenegbu Secondary, a city school.

Anyadike did not confirm or deny the reports.

“Up to this moment, some schools don’t have chairs and tables. They have started distributing but it has not reached everybody… The uniforms too have not reached everybody,” he said.

The NUT boss is, however, unhappy that all schools are being mandated to wear the same uniform. He also expressed dismay with the irregularity of subvention.

“This is the only place in the world where schools wear the same uniform. We are saying there should be something to distinguish one school from another….    I know that last month subvention was given but has not been regular. Previously, they were given subvention to cover diaries, registers, stationery, including chalk and cleaning materials like Izal. We have written that these things should come regularly,” he added.

While some schools have not received their subvention, there are others who have refused to use their subvention as expected.

“Government cannot give you money to effect repairs and you pocket it. It’s against our professional ethics. There are also reports that some schools did not get the money and we are compiling reports,” the NUT boss said.

The committed trade unionist denied allegations that the NUT was also making unauthorized deductions from teacher’s salaries.

“You don’t touch anybody’s personal emoluments; it’s against the law. We don’t touch except when they give us permission… when we want to print diaries, almanacs or when they want to pay for their defence fund – N100 -  to defend them against any form of casualty.  Specific months when this deduction will be made will be made known to the teachers,” he explained.

A proud and experienced labour leader, Anyadike described the NUT as the “most organized and richest” trade union in the land.

“It also has the greatest number of personnel. In NUT, we don’t have an illiterate unlike other trade unions, because every teacher is a graduate,” he added.

A former EmmanuelCollege tutor, Anyadike’s pedigree in trade unionism is known. He approaches his job with enthusiasm, maintaining that the union comes before personal interest.

He admitted dining with the “enemy” sometimes but not at the expense of labour.

“Supporting them in one way or another helps you get things for your union. If you work against them and you make it open, you may start having problems – even when you have genuine cases, they won’t look at you,” he said.

Anyadike, a former local government boss, still has his eyes on active politics and insists he could scale any hurdle with his trade union records. Describing himself as credible and accountable, he said he would ride on his “good name” into the future.

“What I want is the name and the personality.  I have integrity and there are things I don’t want said about me because the shame can make me commit suicide. I am the first teacher that has become the chairman of NLC since its inception – that should tell you something about me. If you want, you can investigate my activities in NLC and NUT. I am sorry for anyone who will run an election with me in this state.”

That’s a competent trade unionist speaking.

 

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