The Bayelsa State Government has reassured all applicants involved in the ongoing teacher recruitment exercise that they will soon be shortlisted for employment. This development comes after several months of delay following the suspension of the recruitment process by the Bayelsa State Post Primary Schools Board.
According to the Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, the state government is committed to ensuring that qualified applicants are not only shortlisted but also paid any outstanding salary arrears. He gave this assurance during a meeting held on Monday with a group of aggrieved prospective teachers at the Government House in Yenagoa.
In a statement released by his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Mr Doubara Atasi, Senator Ewhrudjakpo urged the affected applicants to be patient as the verification panel had completed its job, and the next steps would soon be taken.
“We assure you that all those who deserved to be employed will be employed. Those who worked for 6 or 3 or even two months before the exercise was suspended, your salary arrears will be paid, that is what I can assure you,” the Deputy Governor stated.
He explained that the delay was due to serious irregularities found in the earlier phase of the recruitment, which contradicted the findings of a needs assessment carried out in secondary schools across all eight local government areas of the state.
“We did the needs assessment and came to the conclusion that we had a lot of irregularities that marred the process. We discovered issues such as under-employment, over-aged teachers and nepotism. We needed to recruit 997 teachers to be employed from the 8 local government areas. But the recruitment process was marred by a lot of anomalies,” he said.
Senator Ewhrudjakpo also pointed out that many people were employed in areas already saturated with teachers, while others were employed despite being unqualified.
“For instance, somebody who wants to teach computer does not know what a keyboard or a CPU is,” he noted.
He clarified that a panel had been set up to investigate the process, and after completing its task, the government was now prepared to move forward. The Deputy Governor added, “As soon as the Governor returns, we will get the approval and all of you who deserve employment will be employed.”
Speaking on the proposed protest by the applicants, Senator Ewhrudjakpo emphasized the importance of lawful conduct. “Protest is a fundamental constitutional right of every citizen, but there is always the need for protesters not to infringe on the rights of others in the course of exercising theirs,” he said.
He praised the applicants for their patriotism, noting that many of them continued to work in public schools despite the suspension of the recruitment exercise. “Those of you who are qualified will resume before the end of next month,” he added.
He also reminded the applicants that their appointment letters were provisional and that they were still under probation. “You may be qualified in terms of competence. But what about your character?” he asked.
Earlier, the leader of the delegation, Mr Teki Ayebaene, said that the planned protest was a peaceful demonstration intended to bring attention to their situation. He expressed deep concern over the long delay in the recruitment process, which he said had affected around 800 applicants across 413 government-owned secondary schools in Bayelsa State.
The meeting between the government and the applicants comes at a time when unemployment and education reform are high-priority topics in Nigeria, especially in regions like Bayelsa where public school staffing has faced several challenges. The move to clean up the recruitment process aims to improve quality education by ensuring only qualified teachers are placed in schools, while also addressing public sector accountability and salary payment issues.
This development is important not just for education stakeholders, but also for those involved in civil service recruitment, as it underscores the role of transparency, proper assessment, and governance in public hiring processes. With this renewed commitment from the Bayelsa State Government, there is cautious optimism among prospective teachers and their families as they await the next steps.