The 94 lecturers of the Enugu State College of Education, Technical (ESCET), sacked by Governor Peter Mba have begged for reinstatement.
The group in passionate appeal titled “A passionate appeal to reconsider staff disengagement at Enugu State College of Education (Technical) Enugu,” said if nothing was done, their disengagement would bring untold hardships to their families.
The appeal letter addressed to Governor Mba was signed by Dr Egbo Doris and Dr Njideka Frank on behalf of other affected staff.
Mba had in October 2023, constituted a seven-member investigative committee to probe alleged fraud and corrupt practices in the school.
According to them, they wrote to the governor as responsible and dedicated indigenes of Enugu State who were employed at ESCET on Oct. 22, 2021.
They stated that on February 26, they received the distressing news of their disengagement from service which was communicated to them through the Acting Registrar of the school, Mr Pat Aneke.
Aneke informed them he took directives from the Government Implementation Committee, to deliver the disengagement message to the affected staff.
While appealing to Mba for reconsideration and reinstatement, the group said: “Our dedication to the educational growth of the school has been top-notch.
“It is only our set and Alvan Ikoku College of Education Owerri, that were successful in the whole of the South East in the 2023 TETFAIR programme. We believe that the sudden termination of our employment does not accurately reflect our contributions.
“It was only this set, disengaged since the establishment of ESCET, that was able to attract international education grant for further research work to continue improving on the quality of education in Nigeria.”
They disclosed that they were special hybrid and highly intellectual academicians that had been working for the institution on how to increase Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) through different research engagement for the school before their disengagement.
According to the group, upon their employment, they remained dedicated and committed to the growth of the college and never deterred from discharging their duties in spite of irregular payment of staff salary.
