For over three months, public primary school pupils in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have been out of the classroom due to a teachers’ strike.
The industrial action has seen multiple suspensions and resumptions and is the third since late 2024.
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The last strike was suspended in October 2024 after the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, intervened.
Despite repeated engagements between the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) FCT chapter and the six Area Councils responsible for primary education in the FCT, no lasting resolution has been reached.
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At the core of the crisis is the implementation of the national minimum wage and associated allowances.
The NUT-FCT accused the area councils of reneging on previous agreements to implement the national minimum wage and pay associated allowances.
The teachers’ union said all reconciliatory meetings, including one with members of the National Assembly, ended in deadlock.
They also accused the FCT Minister, Mr Wike, of not doing enough to end the crisis.
Meanwhile, Rabi Umar, the assistant deputy press of the FCT Minister’s office; Kabir Musa, the spokesperson for the FCT Education Board; and Chiya Danladi, the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) FCT chairperson, did not answer questions posed by this reporter despite reminders.
Ms Umar referred this reporter to the FCT Education Secretariat, while Mr Musa directed the reporter to the Secretary of the FCT Universal Basic Education Board, Alhassan Sule, who eventually spoke with PREMIUM TIMES.
Mr Sule said UBEC was working with the union and the area council to end the strike, even though it is only a supervising body.
“I have spoken to the area council chairman several times, he kept saying where would they get the funding. We have also been asking them when they would implement the minimum wage for the teachers. We pray that the NUT cooperates with the FCT administration to see that this issue is brought to an end,” he said.
Unequal treatment, broken promises
The Chairperson of the NUT, FCT Chapter, Abdullahi Muhammad, said the industrial action has lingered due to the area councils’ alleged neglect and disregard for the teachers.
Mr Muhammad said the roots of the prolonged strike lie in the discriminatory implementation of the national minimum wage, adding that while teachers in junior and senior secondary schools in the FCT have enjoyed the full benefits of wage reforms, primary school teachers remain sidelined.
He noted that the minimum wage for primary school teachers was paid only once, in April 2025.
“We have gone into agreements over and over again for the implementation of the new wage; they implemented it just once, and now they cannot sustain it. We have explored every avenue with the agreements, but they are not working,” Mr Muhammad said in an interview with PREMIUM TIMES.
He also said that wage increments of 25 and 35 per cent, 40 per cent of peculiar allowances paid to teachers at the junior and secondary level, promotions, arrears, and the federal wage awards of N35,000 have consistently bypassed primary educators.
Demands
Mr Muhammad said the teachers are demanding the full implementation of the N70,000 minimum wage, the 40 per cent peculiar allowance, other wage awards, payment of arrears, and overdue promotions.
“We are not working for charity, and we are not interested in strikes, but it has become our last option. We work to earn wages, and at this point, the wage can no longer sustain us in the FCT,” he said.
He added that the current wages are no longer sustainable for teachers living in the FCT.
Mr Muhammad appealed to the public to join the call for urgent action, saying the prolonged closure of public primary schools in Nigeria’s capital should concern every stakeholder.
He called on NGOs, civil society groups, and parent associations to pressure the authorities to resolve the impasse, warning that public education in the FCT could collapse without collective action.
“The children of the electorate have been at home for over three months. That should worry everyone to take action,” Mr Muhammad said.
“If the area councils won’t do it, let the minister take it up directly. As the minister of FCT, he has the authority to do things his way, as the law provides, if the area councils fail to do their job. This is the capital of Nigeria.”
Dead-end meetings
According to Mr Muhammad, numerous meetings have been held between the union and the Area Council chairmen, but the resolutions were not implemented.
Mr Muhammad said the union signed multiple Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs), yet nothing has changed. The problem, he insisted, is a lack of political will.
“The MOUs contained the implementation of the minimum wage and other demands, but those agreements were not being followed up on. Most of the meetings we held ended with blueprints that were never implemented,” he said.
A statement issued by the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANs) on Wednesday indicates that Mr Wike will meet with chairmen of the FCT area councils, leaders of NUT and representatives of NANs in Abuja on Thursday to finalise modalities for reopening the schools.
N4.1 billion allegedly diverted
The NUT chairperson accused the area councils of diverting funds meant for teachers’ payments.
According to Mr Muhammad, the FCT Minister released N4.1 billion in April to settle salary arrears and wage implementation, but the funds were misapplied.
“The money was given to the Area Councils to settle these problems. But they diverted it, calling it a ‘signature allowance’ from the Central Bank of Nigeria,” he said.
He added that the teachers were paid with the old wage structure in May.
“In one of those area councils, like Kuje, they didn’t even pay correctly. They paid N40,000 across the council as the minimum wage, and up to today, they have not been able to sustain it, and they have not been able to pay the arrears of those past months,” he said.
When asked about the allegedly diverted N4.1 billion, the FCT Universal Basic Education Board Secretary, Mr Sule, told PREMIUM TIMES that he could not comment on it as it didn’t pass through his office.
“What I know is that constitutionally, local governments are responsible for paying the teachers’ salaries,” he said.
READ ALSO: Wike to meet area council chairmen, NUT, NANs over teachers’ strike
When threats fail
Mr Muhammad accused the FCT Minister, Mr Wike, of not carrying out his threats to withhold allocations to area councils, which failed to resolve the issue.
Mr Wike had threatened to use the area councils’ funds to pay the teachers if they failed to agree with the teachers to reopen the school. The teacher’s union chairperson argued that tangible results would have followed if the minister had genuinely intended to intervene. The problem, he said, is not capacity but commitment.
“All the IGR that he promised that he was going to collect to pay teachers’ allowances has not come. If he wasn’t playing politics, something would have changed by now. All his pronouncements have amounted to nothing,” Mr Muhammad said.
He said the union visited the National Assembly in May to complain to the committee on FCT area council and auxiliary matters.
“They only told the union to suspend the strike while they expedited action for the money to be paid to us, and nobody has communicated with us since then, even at the height of the strike.
“This is supposed to be their matter because they are the ones representing FCT seats at the National Assembly, but we have not seen any action from the Senate or the House of Representatives. Nobody wants to intervene,” he said.
In the meantime, pupils in the FCT have lost an entire term to the lingering crisis between their teachers and the FCT administration.
