The over 1,000 secondary school teachers, who were relieved of their jobs some months ago due to age falsification in the state Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM), could not hide their feelings as they burst into frenzy on hearing of their pardon by Governor Abiola Ajimobi. They were full of praises for the governor for tempering justice with mercy.

The governor, while addressing the teachers at the House of Chiefs, Secretariat, Ibadan, said that his administration decided to review their cases after persistent interventions by the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) and stakeholders in the education sector.

He said that a committee had already been put in place which is reviewing the cases of the affected teachers, stressing that those with falsified ages would have their ages regularised and be finally reinstated, while those already due for retirement would be allowed to retire and be paid their entitlements.

Governor Ajimobi described teaching as a noble profession, saying that his administration would continue to place emphasis on integrity in the state civil service, especially among teachers who were responsible for the training of future leaders.

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Oyo State wing, has commended the Oyo State government for the pardon granted to the teachers who were suspended from the teaching service of the state since June 2012.

The union, in letter signed by its secretary, Comrade Waheed Olojede, said it “was particularly grateful to the governor for listening to the persistent appeals and pleas of the union ever since the matter started in the last one year.”