FCT Teachers Begin Strike Over Unpaid Minimum Wage and Allowances, Disrupting Terminal Exams
Teachers in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, have embarked on an indefinite strike just days before the conclusion of terminal examinations, citing the failure of area councils to implement the new ₦70,000 minimum wage.
The industrial action, which commenced on Monday, forced students to abandon their ongoing first-term exams and return home, further disrupting an academic calendar already affected by previous strikes.
Primary school pupils in the FCT have endured multiple disruptions this term due to repeated work stoppages by their teachers. This latest action comes on the heels of a 14-day strike that began on September 18 and ended on October 7, during which students remained out of school for nearly three weeks.
Explaining the reasons for the current strike, Comrade Ameh Baba, Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) in the Kubwa chapter of the FCT, pointed to the area councils’ non-payment of arrears. He highlighted that the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) had set a December 1 deadline for states to comply with the ₦70,000 minimum wage, leaving the union with no choice but to act.
“We have waited for too long,” Baba said. “The NLC’s December 1 ultimatum has come into effect, and since the area councils failed to comply, we had no option but to enforce the strike.”
Baba acknowledged that FCT Minister Nyesom Wike had approved the new minimum wage and facilitated its inclusion in the November salary for some workers. However, he noted that teachers under the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) have yet to receive this adjustment.
Additionally, primary school teachers in the FCT are still awaiting payment of a ₦40,000 peculiar allowance and a ₦35,000 wage award, both of which have been outstanding for up to a year. These delays, Baba stated, have left the union with no choice but to sustain the strike until all issues are resolved.
The strike has once again highlighted the precarious state of public education in the FCT, where unresolved labor disputes frequently disrupt academic activities, leaving pupils to bear the brunt of prolonged negotiations and administrative delays.
