FCT Teachers Begin Strike Over ₦70,000 Minimum Wage Non-Compliance, Disrupt Exams
Teachers in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, have launched a strike just three days before the completion of terminal exams, protesting the failure of area councils to implement the new minimum wage of ₦70,000.
As a result of the industrial action, students who showed up on Monday to continue their first-term exams were sent home.
The strike has disrupted the education of primary school pupils in the FCT, who have already experienced multiple work stoppages by their teachers this term.
The latest strike follows a similar one on September 18, which lasted for 14 days before being called off on October 7, leaving students at home for almost three weeks.
Comrade Ameh Baba, Chairman of the Nigeria Teachers’ Union (NUT) in the Kubwa chapter of the FCT, explained that the strike was prompted by the continued non-payment of arrears by the area council chairmen.
He stated, “And now the ultimatum of December 1st deadline given by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) for any state to comply with the minimum wage of ₦70,000 has come into effect. Hence, we don’t have any option but to comply.”
Baba noted that while the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, had approved the minimum wage and arranged for the first payment with the November salary, teachers under the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) had not received this adjustment.
He added that primary school teachers in the FCT are also still waiting for the ₦40,000 peculiar allowance and ₦35,000 wage award that have been owed to them for up to a year, leading them to continue their strike until the issues are addressed.
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