Despite a meeting with strategic stakeholders, striking primary school teachers in the Federal Capital Territory have insisted that they will not return to the classrooms until they get paid.
The teachers had embarked on strike March 21, 2025 over failure of the constituted authorities to pay them the National Minimum wage approved by the federal government, and other entitlements.
The Minister of FCT, Nyesom Wike, had on Friday met with the representatives of the Nigeria Union of Teachers across the six area council to resolve the strike.
During the meeting which held at the official residence of the minister in Abuja, the teachers insisted on continuing the strike until they were paid.
Chairman of the FCT wing of the NUT, Comrade Abdullahi Shafas, who addressed newsmen at the end of the union’s State Wing Executive Council (SWEC), said there was a unanimous resolution that teachers would resume classes any moment the backlogs of arrears and other entitlements were paid.
The teachers declared the strike over non-payment of backlogs of arrears and other 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 alerts start coming in, the union will call off the strike,” he said.
The FCT NUT chairman, however, commended Wike for withholding 10 percent of the Internal Generated Revenue (IGR) of the six area councils for the past six months as a result of 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.
Recall that FCT primary school teachers embarked on the strike over the non-implementation of the N70,000 new minimum wage, backlogs of arrears and other entitlements.
Three agreements/undertaking were signed with the union but the council chairmen reportedly reneged.
