{"id":117587,"date":"2025-04-18T10:01:31","date_gmt":"2025-04-18T09:01:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=117587"},"modified":"2025-04-18T10:01:31","modified_gmt":"2025-04-18T09:01:31","slug":"worry-as-teachers-strike-continues-in-fct","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/worry-as-teachers-strike-continues-in-fct\/","title":{"rendered":"Worry as Teachers Strike Continues in FCT\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Oscar Okhifo, Abuja<\/div>\n
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The hopes of Abuja parents whose children are in public primary Schools in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have been dashed again. Their children and wards are not returning to school soon. This is so because the teachers who have been on strike are not ready to return to the classrooms. They say they will remain in their houses until they are paid all that is owed to them.<\/div>\n
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The innocent children have lost so much and are still losing. This is the fourth industrial action in 2025 by the teachers, and the reasons are the same. The refusal of the Area Council Chairmen to implement the new minimum wage is the trigger. One wonders why the FCT is not blazing the trail in terms of minimum wage payment.<\/div>\n
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The burden of the payment of primary school teachers is shared by the Area Councils and the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA). From the grapevine, one gets to know that the weak link remains the Area Council Chairmen. They struggle endlessly to meet up with basic responsibilities and obligations.<\/div>\n
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\u00a0The strike which was called by the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) Abuja Council and Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) has paralysed the FCT education calendar.<\/div>\n
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Earlier in the week, news went around that the teachers had been paid. Abuja was expecting a call-off. Pointblank News would later learn that the March salaries that were paid were still based on the old minimum wage, which is actually the bone of contention.<\/div>\n
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\u00a0The teachers who bared their minds wondered why their colleagues in the Secondary schools were not so badly treated. They vowed not to bow to pressure and blackmail.<\/div>\n
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Mr. Musa Aliyu, a primary School teacher in Kuje Area Council, expressed disappointment with the Area Council Chairmen. “You see those men, they really don’t care. When I got the alert, I quickly checked. It was still the miserable old minimum wage. Even at gunpoint, I won’t go and start teaching now,” he vowed.<\/div>\n
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Mrs. Zainab Zakaria, another teacher in Abuja Municipal Area Council, was livid too. “Will they say they have no money to pay the arrears and continue with the new minimum wage? The political will is not just there. We will see who blinks first.”<\/div>\n
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Another teacher, Onoja Michael, says, “Even the new minimum wage is miserable. Imagine living on the old one. How many mudus of rice can it buy? These chairmen do not fear God at all. If it takes three years to settle this matter, we are ready” he said.<\/div>\n
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Another male teacher who pleaded anonymity expressed his disappointment. “The more they treat the masses as trash, the more they vote for them. Elections will soon come and you will see the teachers they denied and the parents of the kids who bear the brunt trooping out to vote for them. They don’t deserve our votes at all. How much do they pay worthless political appointees? This country is unjust to teachers,” he lamented.<\/div>\n
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Meanwhile, “Mr. Ismaila Jugu, a teacher however exonerated the Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike and blamed the Area Council Chairmen.<\/div>\n
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His words, “We heard sometime ago that Wike released N4bn for this purpose. The problem we have is the Area Council Chairmen. This constant money problem is always from them. They love living large while we poor teachers suffer. So, the N4 billion we heard Wike released is that what they used to pay us the peanuts we got yesterday? Definitely not. Where’s the money? The more you look, the less you see,” he said in obvious disappointment.<\/div>\n
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All the public primary schools across the FCT have been under lock and key while the Area Council Chairmen are balling around the city in their posh Sports Utility Vehicles. Is education no longer the right of children?<\/div>\n
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FCT teachers are worried because the Area Council Chairmen do not care about them and the pupils under their tutelage. They believe there is money to pay them but there’s a dearth of political will.<\/div>\n
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Mr Audu, a retired head teacher, says he regrets being a teacher. His words pierced deep. “Throughout one’s career as a teacher, you are just perpetually broke. Sometimes, over 80 children are stuffed in one classroom. You teach and supervise them. It’s very challenging and chaotic. At the end of the month, he\/she is paid peanuts. The government won’t bother about how you feed, raise your children and where you retire to. This is not so in other countries. I won’t encourage my children to teach in Nigeria,” he laments.<\/div>\n
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Some of the respondents who preferred their names not to be mentioned are disappointed in the leadership of NUT and NULGE. They feel they are not forceful enough. They suspect they are compromised easily. They vowed that no one would force them back into the classrooms to teach until every dime owed to them was paid and paid on the basis of the minimum wage.<\/div>\n
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\u00a0Over time, parents have been speaking. They want the government to be serious about basic education. As it is now, only parents who can afford private schools have their children in school. This constant disruption does harm to the children and the system. If truly they are the leaders of tomorrow, it is the responsibility of the government to stand them on a solid foundation.<\/div>\n
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The pleas of the teachers to have them on the first line charge should be looked into. This will obliterate delays and unnecessary deductions. The populace should be educated politically, to appreciate that an Area Council Chairman who fails to pay teachers’ salaries should not be reelected into the same office where he failed woefully.\u00a0 Emancipation starts from awakening!<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Oscar Okhifo, Abuja The hopes of Abuja parents whose children are in public primary Schools in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have been dashed again. Their children and wards…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":117588,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-117587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nWorry as Teachers Strike Continues in FCT\u00a0 - Pointblank News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/worry-as-teachers-strike-continues-in-fct\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Worry as Teachers Strike Continues in FCT\u00a0 - Pointblank News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Oscar Okhifo, Abuja The hopes of Abuja parents whose children are in public primary Schools in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have been dashed again. 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