FCT teachers: We won’t call off strike until we receive alerts

Primary school teachers currently on strike in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have insisted that they will not return to the classrooms until they are paid.

The teachers have remained on strike since March, and all attempts to resolve the dispute have been unsuccessful.

The FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, held a meeting yesterday with representatives of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) from the six area councils to resolve the strike.

During the meeting, which was held at the minister’s official residence, the teachers made it clear that they would not return to work until they had received payment.

Chairman of the FCT branch of the NUT, Comrade Abdullahi Mohammed Shafas, who spoke to journalists following the union’s State Wing Executive Council (SWEC) meeting, stated that there was a unanimous decision that teachers would go back to the classrooms as soon as the arrears and other entitlements were settled.

The teachers had embarked on the strike due to the non-payment of arrears and other financial entitlements.

“Our members are ready to go back to their classes any moment they start receiving alerts. In fact, even if it is this evening and alerts start coming in, the union will call off the strike,” he said.

However, the NUT chairman praised Wike for withholding 10 percent of the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) from the six area councils over the past six months due to the strike.

“The Minister has also, in his own wisdom, set up a committee to look into other pending demands of the teachers,” he added.

It should be recalled that the primary school teachers have been on strike over the failure to implement the ₦70,000 new minimum wage, the backlog of arrears, and other outstanding entitlements.

Three agreements or undertakings had previously been signed with the union, but the chairmen of the area councils reportedly failed to honour them.