CHIEF Peter O. Wanogho, a lawyer, has warned the Nigeria Union of Teachers, NUT, against picketing private school teachers in their strike, describing such action as illegal, just as he appealed to the Federal Government to negotiate with the NUT.

Teachers nationwide on under the aegis of NUT on Tuesday last week went on strike to protest against the non-implementation of the Teachers Salary Scale, TSS.

Wanogho gave the warning while fielding questions from our correspondent at Ughelli. He stressed that it was within the exclusive power of the Federal Government to negotiate with the striking teachers under item 34 of the exclusive legislative list of the 1999 constitution.

He said "no state or local government can be regarded as a stakeholder in relation to the agitation of NUT. The President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua administration is a disgrace to governance by shirking in its responsibility to the people of this country in relation to their educational development.

"The concurrent legislative list that gives states power to legislate on education does not include the primary education." Are members of NUT not teaching in primary schools? Item 27, 28, 29 and 30 of the concurrent legislative list only gives powers to state to establish Universities, Technological and Post Primary Education.

"Establishment of an institution is different from prescribing the condition of service of the employees of these institutions.

The Federal Government must come to reality, if they do not want to draw this country back and to be tagged as a 7th world country."

Wanogho reiterated that NUT has no legal power to picket private schools in the strike, saying "the NUT is also peddling in ignorance in that perspective. You do not fight a just course through illegality and illegal means.

The first question; are the private school teachers members of NUT? The minimum wage that has been payable to the public schools, which NUT has control over are they paying same to the private school teachers?

"I venture to say that here in Ughelli, there are private schools where the teachers are paid N4,500 a month, which is far less than the approved national minimum wage. What has NUT done so s to ameliorate the sufferings of those teaching in private schools? Nothing.

"Then and this is more fundamental. How can these private schools that are managing to survive, how can they pay approved wage, when the government has no control over their own recourses," he exclaimed.

He advised that NUT should concern itself with its own agitation, pointing out that if they (NUT) picket any private school, it will be an illegality. They are pursuing a just course for the development of education and in pursuing that just course, they must not perpetrate illegality."