Primary school teachers in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, have suspended their over three-month strike after the government met some their demands.
The Abuja chapter of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) disclosed this in a communique made available to journalists in Abuja late Tuesday.
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The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the communique was jointly signed the union’s Chairman, Abdullahi Shafas, Secretary, Margaret Jethro, and Publicity Secretary, Ibukun Adekeye.
In the communique, the union’s leadership directed the teachers to return to the classrooms on Wednesday.
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It applauded the intervention of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, in resolving the issues.
Primary school teachers in the FCT embarked on an indefinite strike on 24 March over unpaid minimum wage and other welfare concerns.
PREMIUM TIMES reports that primary schools in Abuja are under the control of the six Area Councils. However, public condemnation of the prolonged strike forced the intervention of the FCT minister, who held several meetings with the union of the striking teachers and with chairpersons of the Area Councils.
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One of such meetings was held on 3 July and was attended by other stakeholders, including the chairpersons of the House Committee on FCT and House Committee on Area Councils and Ancillary Matters, FCT Head of Service, FCT Permanent Secretary, Treasury, and executives of the NUT among others.
“The payment of FCT primary school teachers, as explained by the minister, is the responsibility of the Area Councils,” the communique released on Tuesday states.
“The minister, however, emphasised the inadequacy of the councils’ allocation to cater for the payment and therefore offered the following:
“The release of 10 per cent of the area councils’ six months accrued Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), amounting to N16 billion, to augment the payment of the minimum wage for June and 60 per cent of its nine months arrears.
“The constitution of a Special Committee to, within two weeks, harmonise all the outstanding arrears detailing the sourcing of funds for the permanent settlement of all the backlog.”
The union leaders said that, upon the minister’s intervention, SWEC held an emergency session on 4 July to deliberate on the offers and review the strike action.
They added that, after exhaustive deliberation on the offers, including the positive disposition of the minister, SWEC resolved to suspend the strike, if the N16 billion is released and payment received by teachers.
READ ALSO: EDITORIAL: Ending the embarrassing strike of teachers and health workers in Abuja
“Consequent upon the implementation of the minimum wage and payment of five months arrears into the teachers accounts on July 8, the SWEC, hereby, suspends the ongoing strike.
“The council, appeal to all primary school teachers in FCT to, with effect from Wednesday, July 9, return to the classrooms and continue with their legitimate duties.
“The union will intensify efforts to ensure the payment of the remaining entitlements,” they said.
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