Lagos — Teachers in Lagos State have suspended the one month old strike, which was embarked on to press home their demands for the implementation of the Teachers' Specific Allowances (TSA) as the Lagos State Government has accepted to commence the payment from January 2010.

Addressing newsmen at the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) secretariat on Sunday, the chairman of the union, Idowu Kayode, said the Lagos State government invited the leadership of the union to a round table and has accepted to commence the payment.

"We thank the state government for the parley and I wish to announce the suspension of the strike while urging our members to be courageous at the respective meeting points in their various local governments for further details on Tuesday October 6" he said.

Idowu also noted that the agreement of August 6, 2008 between the union and the Governor's Forum has January 2009 as effective date of payment.

"To us as a union, the implication is that there exists accruing arrears. As democrats, we are averse to any conditional postulation on the mode of payment and as rationale beings with our strong belief that the state government is an advocate of excellence, integrity and credibility, which has propelled us to down play our demand for immediate implementation of the aforesaid from January 2009," he added.

He however said teachers are not strike-hungry but they shall not hesitate to engage any anti-teacher policy in a combat.

It will be recalled that teachers in nineteen states of the country begun another strike in order to ensure implementation of the non-payment of 27.5 percent Teachers' Salary Structure.

The strike, which started following a directive from the National Executive Council of NUT to the nineteen state wings where the state governments have persistently reneged on the August 6 2008 agreement on the issue of non-payment of the 27.5% Job Related Allowances to embarked on strike commencing from September 1.

Also the teachers have vowed that until the state government issue a circular stating specific time for the implementation of the 27.5 % Teachers Special Allowances the strike will not be suspended.

Out of the nineteen state which began the strike on September 1 5 has now suspended which include; Delta, Edo, Kwara, Ondo and Lagos