Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole has said the competency test for teachers will hold in the interest of the Edo child.
Addressing workers at the May Day rally yesterday, the governor said he would not be intimidated.
Oshiomhole urged workers to unite in the fight against insurgency, saying no nation develops in an insecure environment.
On the competency test for teachers, he said: “I have a duty to restore the dignity of teachers. I am sure comrades that we know our future begins today, and that today means investing in education.
“I did not start by building an ultra-modern government house, as many governors have done.
“I did not start by building residential guest house and I have made no investment in building guest house, but I decided from day one that I will build schools that can compete with private ones.
“We have introduced one pupil-one desk and I am doing these because proper teaching and learning cannot take place in an atmosphere that is not conducive.
“If I have made such investments and I proudly show them on television, God will give me the courage to look the teacher in the face and ask if he is qualified.
“I want you to remember me when I have left office as the one who had the courage to look at the electorate and ask them, if they are qualified to teach.
“I have a duty to the Edo child and I want you to remember that it is the children of the poor who are in government schools.”
Oshiomhole said as a product of a public school, he would not allow the future of the Edo child to be undermined.
He said: “The purpose of the competency test for teachers is not to sack anybody.
“We need more teachers in the state and I have employed more teachers than any other administration.”
The governor urged workers to stand and speak for Nigeria.
“We should be united in the fight against Boko Haram. We should be united against terrorism, because we need a peaceful state to practise politics.
“Right now, across the country, I only hear the voices of ethnic champions, people who speak for the East, people who speak for the Southsouth, people who speak for the Southwest, speak for the Northeast and Northcentral, among others.
“Where are the spokespersons for Nigeria? Everyone has become an ethnic champion.
“Even those who have the opportunity to preside at the national level, they have recoiled to their parts of the country.
“I urge you and I to build solidarity across the Niger. You must build solidarity across all the primordial sentiment.”
On Edo Line, Oshiomhole said: “I have directed that all those who were laid off should be reinstated and their salaries paid.”
He assured that those whose names were removed and had legitimate approval to go on study leave should have their names restored on the payroll.