•FCT minister, Nyesom Wike
Barely some weeks to the commencement of the federal common entrance examinations being conducted by the National Examinations Council (NECO) for primary six pupils, teachers in the public primary schools in the Federal Capital Territory are still on strike.
The schools were shut during their last second term examinations by the striking teachers, reports Daily Trust.
Although primary six pupils in the FCT no longer write the common entrance examinations, pupils who want to attend unity and other federal government secondary schools must write the federal common entrance being conducted by the NECO.
The teachers had been on strike over the non-implementation of the N70,000 minimum wage and other entitlements by the area council chairmen.
The workers last Thursday satged a massive protest in the nation’s capital, blocking the entrance of the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, at Area 11.
Reacting to the protest, the minister blasted the council chairmen for their failure to start the implementation of the new wage as well as paying the striking workers their other entitlements.
The minister summoned the council chairmen for talks on the lingering crisis. It is however not cleared if the meeting was held over the weekend or scheduled for today.
Parents, teachers worried
Some parents who spoke with our reporter on Thursday, blamed the ongoing strike on the refusal of the six council chairmen to implement a new minimum wage for the teachers.
The parents regretted that weeks to the commencement of the common entrance examinations, the teachers had refused to call off the strike and that relevant stakeholders were not doing much to address the situation.
A parent, Ibrahim Abdullahi, pleaded with the striking teachers to suspend the strike in the interest of the pupils.
He lambasted the council chairmen for not being sensitive to the plights of the pupils, wondering why they would not start the implementation of the N70,000 minimum wage even when the minister, Nyesom Wike, had reportedly released the sum of N4.1 billion for such.
He said, ‘’It is unfortunate that the council chairmen, who had during their various campaigns, pledged to prioritise education but ended up abandoning the teachers to their plights.’’
Another parent, Mrs Comfort Issac, said the implication of the strike had been unmeasurable, wondering why such a scenario would be allowed in the nation’s capital.
She appealed to the council chairmen and the unions’ leaders to return to the negotiating table to end the lingering strike to allow the pupils return to school.
She said, “Two of my children who are expected to sit for that common entrance examination in some weeks’ time are currently sitting idle at home. This has been giving me serious concern because I can’t afford to hire lesson teachers for them.’’
She noted that the area councils’ chairmen had on several occasions reportedly agreed to pay the minimum wage but have been reneging.
“The annoying part of it is that we learnt that the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, had approved and released money to the tune of a billion naira to the six area council chairmen to pay the teachers, why would they not pay so that our children can go back to their classes,” she said.
A teacher, simply identified as Alhassan, said it was not their wish to shut down the schools across the six area councils for a month, saying rather, the council chairmen should be held responsible for the lingering strike.
Also speaking, a teacher in Gwagwalada Area Council, Shuaibu Abubakar, said the teachers were also worried over the lingering strike, especially seeing the pupils at home while their friends in private schools are in school.
He, however, attributed the crisis to the insincerity on part of the council chairmen, who had failed to honour the various agreements they had with the teachers.
He said, “I believe you are aware that between late December last year till April, 2025, this is the fourth strike the teachers are embarking on over the same issue and up till today, the council chairmen are not talking.’’
Mr Barnabas Ezekiel Bala, a primary school teacher in Kuje Area Council, who spoke with our reporter, also expressed concern over the lingering strike, especially as pupils were about to sit for the common entrance examination.
He said the six area council chairmen should be blamed and held responsible for their failure to implement the minimum wage for the teachers, which he said has led to the lingering strike.
According to him, it is worrisome that the primary school pupils are yet to complete their second term examination, while junior and senior secondary schools’ students have resumed classes for their third session.
He said, “As a journalist, take your time to do your investigation and see if there is any of the area council chairman that has a child in any public primary school in the FCT, your findings will be none and that will explain why they are behaving like that.’’
The chairman of the Parents Teachers Association (PTA) in the FCT, Alhaji Usman Abubakar, said the association is worried that barely some weeks to the commencement of the examination, primary school teachers in the FCT are yet to return to classes.
“Just like I told you on Tuesday, the PTA is appealing to the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, to wade into the crisis in the interest of, not only the parents but the children, so that they can return to their classes,” he said.
He said the continuous teachers strike may have an adverse effect on not only the parents but the children who continued to remain at home, engaging in all kinds of illegal activities that can pose serious threats to the society.
Reacting, the state chairman of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Comrade Abdullahi Mohammed Shafas, said primary school teachers in the FCT were not slaves, hence, their demands must be met before the strike will be called off.
Workers give condition to end strike
The President of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) in the FCT, Comrade Abdullahi Ibrahim Kabi, said workers across the six councils will not call off the ongoing strike until the new wage and other entitlements are paid by the area council chairmen.
Kabi told our correspondent on phone yesterday that the joint unions would never shift ground until the council chairmen act positively.
He said, “We go to the same market with other civil servants in the FCT but the way area council workers and primary school teachers are being treated like slaves is quite unfortunate. We will not call off the strike until our minimum wage and other entitlements are paid.”
The NULGE president said though the FCT minister, Nyesom Wike, summoned the six area council chairmen for a meeting last Thursday, after the peaceful protest, they were yet to be briefed on the outcome.
