It was an interesting sight yesterday as primary and
secondary school teachers from all over Ekiti State converged
on Agric Olope area of Ado-Ekiti to collect the chickens that
Governor Ayodele Fayose promised them for Christmas.
As early as 9am, teachers had started to throng the
distribution venue to collect their chickens. When Governor
Fayose arrived with a deluge of security aides in his traditional
short-sleeve T-shirt, he threw victory punch to the air with
the supporters he brought in buses responding with shouts of
Oshoko.
The whole stretch of Agric Olope of Ajilosun was jam-packed
with the vehicles of the teachers that came from all over the
state.
The other end of Agric Olope by Matthew Street was a no-go
area as teachers, who parked their cars far away from the
distribution venue, trekked long distances.
By noon, the picture of what would emerge at the end of the
day had started to take shape as teachers went home with
pigeon-size chickens cursing the governor in unprintable
words. Some left in annoyance shouting “Sai Buhari, Sai
Buhari”.
When the governor saw the anger of the teachers as they
shoved and shoved in an uncontrollable scramble to collect
their chickens, he offered to decentralize the distribution, but
the teachers had already lost their patience, as they left in
anger.
One teacher from Omuo-Ekiti lamented that he had spent
about N800 to travel to Ado-Ekiti to collect a chicken that
sells for less than N1000. One of the friends of a teacher who
parked his car about 400 metres away from the venue with a
green Nissan Primera lamented ever wasting his time “for this
nonsense”. The man was more angry as the car of his friend
broke down with bad brake cable where they parked. As at
6:30pm, mechanics were still battling to bring the car to life.
Surrounded by four other teachers, one of them said that he
knew the whole exercise would be a fluke immediately he
learnt that teachers in both primary and secondary schools
were lumped together for the exercise.
“I know it is going to be like this. More than half of the
teachers won’t get the fowls. Elomirin a kari so dele loni leyin
ugba kaan ba ruun kankan gba leyin kaan duro titi titi ninu
orirun (some people will go dejected back home empty-
handed after waiting long hours in the sun).
As teachers moved enmasse in anger from the place, the
governor pleaded that they should come back, promising that
he would add N2 million to be shared among the teachers.
This angered the teachers the more, as they started
shouting:”How much will one teacher get if N2m is shared
among more than 18,000 teachers in both primary and
secondary schools?”
As The Trumpeter tried to take the photographs of the
teachers as they were leaving in anger, some covered their
faces to avoid being photographed.
To everybody’s chagrin, Fayose on his way to the office
abruptly stopped at Matthew street junction along Ajilsun and
sat at a phone vendor booth making phone calls while traffic
built up heavily along the road.
secondary school teachers from all over Ekiti State converged
on Agric Olope area of Ado-Ekiti to collect the chickens that
Governor Ayodele Fayose promised them for Christmas.
As early as 9am, teachers had started to throng the
distribution venue to collect their chickens. When Governor
Fayose arrived with a deluge of security aides in his traditional
short-sleeve T-shirt, he threw victory punch to the air with
the supporters he brought in buses responding with shouts of
Oshoko.
The whole stretch of Agric Olope of Ajilosun was jam-packed
with the vehicles of the teachers that came from all over the
state.
The other end of Agric Olope by Matthew Street was a no-go
area as teachers, who parked their cars far away from the
distribution venue, trekked long distances.
By noon, the picture of what would emerge at the end of the
day had started to take shape as teachers went home with
pigeon-size chickens cursing the governor in unprintable
words. Some left in annoyance shouting “Sai Buhari, Sai
Buhari”.
When the governor saw the anger of the teachers as they
shoved and shoved in an uncontrollable scramble to collect
their chickens, he offered to decentralize the distribution, but
the teachers had already lost their patience, as they left in
anger.
One teacher from Omuo-Ekiti lamented that he had spent
about N800 to travel to Ado-Ekiti to collect a chicken that
sells for less than N1000. One of the friends of a teacher who
parked his car about 400 metres away from the venue with a
green Nissan Primera lamented ever wasting his time “for this
nonsense”. The man was more angry as the car of his friend
broke down with bad brake cable where they parked. As at
6:30pm, mechanics were still battling to bring the car to life.
Surrounded by four other teachers, one of them said that he
knew the whole exercise would be a fluke immediately he
learnt that teachers in both primary and secondary schools
were lumped together for the exercise.
“I know it is going to be like this. More than half of the
teachers won’t get the fowls. Elomirin a kari so dele loni leyin
ugba kaan ba ruun kankan gba leyin kaan duro titi titi ninu
orirun (some people will go dejected back home empty-
handed after waiting long hours in the sun).
As teachers moved enmasse in anger from the place, the
governor pleaded that they should come back, promising that
he would add N2 million to be shared among the teachers.
This angered the teachers the more, as they started
shouting:”How much will one teacher get if N2m is shared
among more than 18,000 teachers in both primary and
secondary schools?”
As The Trumpeter tried to take the photographs of the
teachers as they were leaving in anger, some covered their
faces to avoid being photographed.
To everybody’s chagrin, Fayose on his way to the office
abruptly stopped at Matthew street junction along Ajilsun and
sat at a phone vendor booth making phone calls while traffic
built up heavily along the road.
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