Barrister Michael Gusa is the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in Benue state. In this interview with GEORGE MARTINS, he spoke about the legacies of the Ministry of Justice, saying the bill to domesticate retirement age for primary and secondary school teachers at the age of 65 is under way. Excerpts:
What legacy are you leaving behind as Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in Benue State?
Well, making executive laws in the state is one of the legacies. What we have been doing in the state is anchored on the rule of law and I can also say we have achieved a lot in that direction. We have made a law that prohibits open grazing of cattle in Benue State. We have domesticated the law that prohibits violence against persons. We also domesticated administration of criminal justice in the state. On the whole, we made many laws that have direct impact on the lives of Benue people. This is a pass mark for the Samuel Ortom Administration.
Governor Ortom said the 8th and 9th Benue State Houses of Assembly have passed the highest number of bills in the history of the state. What does this imply?
I have said before that the Samuel Ortom Administration is anchored on the rule of law. Today, we have about 45 laws and 11 instruments, thereby making a total of about 56 Laws. So it was a huge task that the administration set out to accomplish within the period it was in charge. Again, the proposed new bill to the state assembly is in respect of primary and secondary school teachers. This is because teachers recently made a presentation that Federal Government passed a law fixing the retirement age of teachers at 65 and it should be domesticated here in Benue State.
After listening to their request, Governor Ortom gave a directive and it was passed at the exco level and sent to the House of Assembly in the hope that it will also enjoy speedy passage so that he will assent to it before leaving office by May 29.
What is the implication of signing into law three bills that seek to elongate the retirement age teachers in tertiary institutions in Benue State?
The Ortom administration is anchored on the rule of law. The governor discovered that in other institutions, at the state and federal levels, there has been an amendment of the law which has prescribed 65 years as retirement age for teachers and he felt that Benue should not be an exception. Therefore, the three bills were passed at the State Executive Council and House of Assembly and assented to by the governor. The implication here is that the staff of the colleges of education in Katsina-Ala and Oju, as well as the Benue State Polytechnic, Ugbokolo, will now have the retirement age of 65 years. It is believed that at 65, workers are still productive and there is no need, after training them with the state’s resources, to retire at the age of 6.
