…as the current strike is the fourth in this current session
Parents and pupils in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, can heave a sigh of relief, as the striking teachers are ready to end the industrial action, provided their demands are met by the area council chairmen.
Abdulsalam Haruna, a primary school teacher and coordinator of the FCT LEA Teachers Forum, told BusinessDay in a phone conversation that the union held a meeting with the six area council chairmen on May 16, and the resolution was forwarded to Nyesom Wike, the FCT minister, on Monday, May 19.
The meeting he disclosed was to resolve the impasse over the arrears and entitlements owed to the teachers and workers by the area council chairmen, and the union members are willing to end the strike, provided the needful is done.
“Both unions agreed to consider the suspension of the strike action upon the release of the fund by the minister of FCT, and its proper application by the area councils,” he explained.
He explained further that the ALGON expressed their concerns over the continuous strike action and emphasised the adverse effects of the strike on the lives of the pupils, and appealed to the unions to suspend the strike since they had implemented the new minimum wage.
“The unions adopted the pronouncement of the minister to use the 10 percent of FCT’s internal revenue service (IRS) to offset the area council workers’ entitlements; and expressed their displeasure and disappointment with the constant breach of agreements by the council chairmen and the non-prioritising of the welfare of the LEA teachers,” he further explained.
Meanwhile, a statement from the joint meeting sighted by BusinessDay, the union urges everyone to remain calm and disregard those unverified updates flying around.
“As we patiently wait for the minister’s response to our joint correspondence, please continue to give us your maximum support, and we shall keep you posted on the subsequent development,” the statement reads in part.
Primary education in Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, is in disarray as teachers’ ongoing strike, the fourth in the 2024/25 academic session, disrupts educational activities, jeopardising the future of these children.
Primary school teachers in Abuja have been on strike since March 24, 2025, making it almost 60 days of stay at ‘out-of-classroom’ action, over the failure of the council chairman to pay the educators their arrears and entitlement amounting to over N16 billion.
A member of the NUT informed BusinessDay reporter that it took the union a series of strike actions and negotiations to get the area council chairmen to implement the national minimum wage (NMW) of N30,000, issued in 2019 after 26 months.
“The arrears for 26 months of the 2019 minimum wage were paid in piecemeal, spanning over one year until it was finally cleared at the end of 2024. Now, the implementation of the 2024 NMW of N70,000, being one of the demands of the workers, has just been implemented in the April 2025 salary due to the sustained strike action,” he explained.
In addition, the agreement stipulates thus;
In compliance with the provisions of the law signed by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on July 29, 2024, on the implementation of the new national minimum wage of N70,000 for workers, and following a letter of appeal from ALGON FCT Chapter dated 4/1, 2024, on the above subject.
An agreement is hereby signed between the two parties as follows;
First, that N70,000 is approved by the ALGON FCT chapter as the new national minimum wage for workers in the Area Councils in Abuja for implementation with effect from January 2025.
Secondly, the arrears began from July 29, 2024, to December 31. 2024 (five months and two days) will be paid in January and February 2025.
Besides, the consequential adjustment will be implemented according to the template of the FCTA, and all pending entitlements of Area Councils staff as contained in the signed memorandum of understanding dated October 23, 2024, between the FCT chapters of ALGON and NUI.GE should be implemented accordingly.
Moreover, the payment of outstanding promotions and annual increment arrears of primary school teachers in the area councils shall be implemented according to the agreed template of 2022 and other arrears as applicable to each council.
However, a member of the union explained that, while the FCT minister had previously released ₦4.1 billion to the area council chairmen to address these issues, the funds were not utilised effectively.
Hence, the minister announced plans to withhold the local governments’ IGR in a bid to directly settle outstanding arrears and wage obligations.
