The Kebbi State government has domesticated the National Assembly Act of new retirement age for teachers from 60 years to 65 years by birth and 35 years to 40 years of service.

This was part of the deliberations at the maiden state executive council meeting in Birnin Kebbi on Wednesday.

Addressing a joint press conference, the Head of Service, Safiyanu Garba-Bena, said, “We are delighted today that the State Executive Council has met and deliberated on the council memo presented by my humble office.

“The memo is for the domestication of the National Assembly Act on new retirement years for teachers in the state.

“The new retirement age is increased from 60 to 65 years of age, while the length of service is also increased from 35 to 40 years. His Excellency, being a labour man and the chairman of the council, has consented to the wish of the entire council.”

The head of service said that the decision of the council would checkmate the trend of the mass exodus of teaching personnel to other MDAs.

He said the council had directed the ministry of justice to prepare an Executive Bill for the State House of Assembly for formal domestication.

On his part, the commissioner for information and culture, Yakubu Ahmed, recalled that some states had already domesticated the Act.

While commending Gov. Nasir Idris for taking the bull by the horns, the commissioner said the action testified that the governor was once a teacher.

Speaking on palliatives, Mr Ahmed said that the state government had received N2 billion from the federal government and decided to add N3.5 billion to procure grains for distribution to vulnerable people across the state.

Nura Bala-Fingili, commissioner for youth and sports development, recalled that the Kebbi governor was the one who championed the new retirement age for teachers during the reign of President Muhammadu Buhari, “and today it has been actualised in Kebbi.”

He said that the governor had also approved the payment of leave grants to all categories of workers in the state with immediate effect, with a warning that there should be no table payment.

“The governor directed that no worker should receive less than 10 per cent of his/her annual pay like before.”

Mr Bala-Fingili assured that the commissioners would monitor the payment to ensure strict compliance, stressing that workers should only be paid the leave grants through banks.

In her contribution, the commissioner for basic and secondary education, Halima Mohammed-Bande, appreciated the governor for actualising the dreams of teachers.

She said that the gesture would boost the morale of teachers and enhance the quality of teaching and learning across the state.

(NAN)