FCT Teachers Strike Over Unpaid Minimum Wage and Allowances

Babatunji Wusu –

• Teachers in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, have gone on strike due to the non-payment of the new ₦70,000 minimum wage.
• The strike has disrupted primary school exams, forcing students to go home just days before the completion of the term.
• The industrial action follows a previous 14-day strike in September and is driven by the area councils’ failure to implement the wage increase and pay outstanding allowances.
• Teachers are also demanding a ₦40,000 peculiar allowance and a ₦35,000 wage award, which have been owed for up to a year.

Teachers in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, have launched a strike over the failure of local area councils to implement the new ₦70,000 minimum wage, just three days before the completion of terminal exams. As a result, students who arrived to continue their first-term exams on Monday were sent home.

This latest strike is a continuation of ongoing disruptions in the education of primary school pupils in the FCT, who have already faced several work stoppages this term. A similar strike occurred on September 18, lasting 14 days before it was suspended on October 7, leaving students at home for nearly 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 pointed out that the deadline set by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) for states to comply with the new minimum wage came into effect on December 1st, leaving teachers with no choice but to take action.

Although the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, had approved the ₦70,000 minimum wage and arranged for the first payment in November, teachers under the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) have yet to receive the adjustment. Additionally, primary school teachers in the FCT are still waiting for a ₦40,000 peculiar allowance and a ₦35,000 wage award, which have been owed for up to a year. As a result, teachers have vowed to continue the strike until their demands are met.