FCT School Teachers Turn Back All Pupils Amid Exams As Minister Wike Fails To Pay Minimum Wage
With just three days remaining for the pupils to complete their first-term examinations, the aggrieved teachers on Monday turned back the pupils, shutting down academic activities in the schools.
Teachers in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, primary schools have launched a new strike over Nyesom Wike, Minister of the FCT-led administration’s failure to comply with the payment of the new N70,000 minimum wage.
With just three days remaining for the pupils to complete their first-term examinations, the aggrieved teachers on Monday turned back the pupils, shutting down academic activities in the schools.
The pupils in the FCT have faced multiple strikes this term, the most recent one beginning on September 18, just 14 days after the term began, and the strike was eventually called off on October 7, leaving students at home for nearly three weeks.
However, on Monday, when pupils returned to continue their first-term examinations, they were sent back home due to a fresh ongoing strike.
SaharaReporters on Saturday reported that amid the controversy around the implementation of the N70,000 minimum wage in the FCT, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) declared an indefinite strike.
The NLC directed all workers in the federal capital territory and across the six area councils of the FCT to embark on indefinite strike action from December 1, 2024, over non-implementation of the N70,000 national minimum wage arrears.
FCT Workers Begin Indefinite Strike December 1 Over Non-payment Of N70,000 Minimum Wage
Nov 30, 2024
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FCT Abuja Workers Begin Indefinite Strike December 1 Over Nonpayment Of N70,000 Minimum Wage
The NLC noted that despite the six area council chairmen being issued a communique of the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the NLC held in Port Harcourt, River State on November 11, 2024, they failed to comply with the demand for a N70,000 minimum wage.
According to the chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in the FCT while addressing journalists in Abuja, Comrade Stephen Knabayi, the six area council members had failed to implement the wage.
On Monday, the Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Kubwa chapter, Comrade Ameh Baba, said that the strike was prompted by the failure of the area council chairmen to pay arrears owed to the teachers.
According to Baba, the December 1st deadline set by the NLC for compliance with the new minimum wage had passed, leaving the teachers with no choice but to take action.
He added that while Wike had approved the new minimum wage, with the first payment expected in November, the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) teachers had not yet received the adjustment.
He also highlighted that the area councils still owed teachers the N40,000 peculiar allowance and a N35,000 wage award that has been outstanding for up to a year.
Baba warned that the strike would continue until the teachers’ demands were met.
There have been controversies over the implementation of the newly approved minimum wage, while some states have promised to start implementation by December 1st, others have failed to make concrete commitments per the NLC.
