The workers also said that they had no plan to go on strike since.

They said that observed discrepancies in consequential adjustment in the implementation of the N80,000 minimum wage had already been conveyed to Governor Peter Mbah and nursed no doubts that it would be addressed subsequently, as he had already earned workers’ trust by his commitment to their welfare since his assumption of office.

This was made known in a joint statement in the state capital on Tuesday by Fabian Nwigbo, the chairman, Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Enugu State Council; Ben Asogwa, chairman of the Trade Union Congress, TUC; and Ezekiel Omeh, the chairman of the state’s Joint Public Service Negotiating Council, JNC.

The statement read,

“The Orgaised Labour in Enugu State wishes to make clarifications in several media reports, which wrongly project Enugu among the states that are yet to pay the national minimum wage.

“We want to acknowledge the fact that the Enugu State Government paid the N80,000 minimum wage approved by the governor in the November 2024 salary.

“However, the minimum wage paid did not reflect the consequential adjustments inherent in minimum wage implementation.

“As labour leaders, we have already communicated to His Excellency the observed discrepancies and in his usual magnanimity to the welfare of workers, we strongly believe that he will address this subsequently.

“Our confidence in the governor remains intact, considering his usual dispositions to the wellbeing of workers.

“It is worthy of note that he continued to pay wage award of N25,000 he approved for workers from December 2023 till October 2024 when the new minimum wage of N80,000 was approved and consequently reflected in the November salary.

“We also recall his good faith in ensuring that local government employees were included from the onset in the new minimum wage of N80,000, having earlier upgraded them to full N30,000 minimum wage upon assumption of office after several years of waiting.

“Likewise, he approved the payment of the N1.9bn four-year accumulated leave allowances owed to teachers of public primary schools in the state and eight-month salary arrears valued at over N467m, which were also owed the academic, non-academic, and casual staff of the Enugu State College of Education Technical, ESCET, Enugu, before his assumption of office.

“Consequently, in the same culture, we trust him to address all the concerns regarding consequential adjustments in the implementation of N80,000 minimum wage.

“So, we have not gone on strike. We do not also contemplate or foresee any strike in the near future because there is no need for that yet.”

The Centre, which is situated at the Enugu State College of Education (Technical), Enugu and comprises 25 model classrooms, ICT hub, and e-library, among other hi-tech sections and equipment will serve as training and retraining hub to groom teachers in digital innovation, mechatronics, artificial intelligence, robotics, and such related areas to be able to function optimally in delivering knowledge in the state’s 260 smart schools.

Flagging off the construction at the weekend, the governor who was represented by Prof. Ndubueze Mbah, the commissioner for Education, said it was part of the priority of his administration to build smart human capital, upscale the workforce, produce children who would serve as the fourth industrial revolution, and achieve zero per cent poverty headcount in the state.

“The Experiential Learning and Innovation centre, as the governor envisioned it, is a centre responsible for making sure that all Smart teachers already experience the Enugu Smart Green Schools before they graduate from the Enugu College of Education Technical, ESCET, as students.

“Experiential learning is being practiced in universities. So, Enugu is the first to introduce it in primary and post-primary schools.

“So, before you even send teachers for the teaching practice, they need to have spent time in the Centre for Experiential Learning and Innovation to develop those pedagogical skills that they need to succeed in the Smart Green School.

“Experiential learning is about supporting children in school to learn through practice. It is about moving away from a scenario where teachers just lecture to one in which our teachers are able to design projects that engage students in activities and problem-solving. So, through those projects, they are able to learn those concepts, internalise them, and use them to solve problems.

“So, it is tied to sustainable goals and we support our students and teachers to identify local problems and come up with solutions tying them to sustainable development goals,” he stated.

Mbah commended the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TetFund, which he said was paying for the project, having recognized the state’s investment in education.

“Tetfund is paying for the project because they see our investment and innovation in education. They also see Enugu College of Education Technical as one of the dynamic institutions in the country. And when they see the success, then it can be replicated in other institutions and parts of the country, he added.

In her remarks, Dr. Stella Ekwueme, the provost of ESCET, commended Governor Mbah’ leadership, which she said, had positioned the state as a pacesetter in the education sector within a very short period.

She also thanked TetFund for partnering with the Enugu State Government on the project, which she explained would revolutionalise learning in the state and ultimately, the nation in general.