All public Primary Schools in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja have been shut as teachers embarked on the fourth strike in four months.
Teachers in the FCT boycotted the classes twice in December last year and once in February this year over the non-implementation of the N70,000 national minimum wage by the Chairmen of the six Area Councils.
The latest strike began on Monday March 24, 2025, disrupting the second term examinations in most of the schools across the six Area Councils.
Our reporters, who visited some of the LEA primary schools on Monday, observed that most of the schools were shut with few teachers seen turning back the pupils who came for the examinations.
At Pilot Science Primary School in Abaji, Abaji Area Council, few pupils were seen in the compound playing football while others were on the street returning to their various houses.
Some teachers were seen under a mango tree discussing the Council Chairmen’s refusal to pay the new minimum wage.
One of the teachers, simply identified as Muazu Ibrahim, said it was unfortunate that despite the agreement reached with the union, the six area council chairmen still refused to implement the new wage as promised.
He said it was regrettable that the strike has disrupted the ongoing second term examinations, calling on the authorities of the councils to keep to their promise by implementing the new wage in the interest of the pupils.
Also, at a Central Primary School in Kwali, the classrooms remained under lock and key with only a few pupils seen hanging around, while some teachers were seen discussing the strike.
A teacher at the school, Mr Barnabas Ayuba, who spoke with our reporter, said the continuous neglect of teachers by the council chairmen has been affecting them.
He said, “Last week, I read in the news that some of the teachers have engaged in commercial driving in order to sustain their family. Like me, I had used my motorcycle to do okada after work to raise some money and buy foodstuffs for my family.”
It was also observed that LEA Primary School in Tukpechi in Kuje Area Council was shut down as a result of the strike with no pupils in the classes when our reporter visited around 11am.
A teacher, Moses Abraham, who spoke with our reporter, said the teachers decided to stay off their classes following the directive by the union over the non- implementation of the new minimum wage by the area council chairmen.
At the Demonstration LEA primary school, Gwagwalada, the situation was also the same as the classrooms were shut with few pupils seen paying around the school compound, while some teachers were also seen in group discussing the strike.
The head teacher of the school, Ibrahim Yusuf, expressed concern over the non- implementation of the minimum wage by the council chairmen.
He said the teachers of the school were not happy that the second term examination is being disrupted, adding that they have no option than to embark on the strike to press home their demands.
He said, “There is need for the council chairmen to see these children as their own just like we also see them like our children. It is not our wish to disrupt their second term examination with the strike.”
It would be recalled that the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) had, at end of its emergency State Wing Standing Committee (SWSC) meeting on Saturday, directed all primary school teachers across the six area councils to resume the suspended strike over non implementation of the new minimum wage as promised by the council chairmen.
Some of the parents of the affected pupils have expressed worry over the incessant strikes in the territory, lamenting that the action is crippling their wards’ drive for basic education.
One of the concerned parents, Muhammad Ali, a resident of Dakwa, in the Bwari Area Council, said the strikes within the last two years had negatively affected the studies of their wards, accusing the teachers of showing no concern to its negative consequences against their students.
A mother of two pupils with one of the LEA primary schools in Kubwa, Mrs. Rita Moses, said the strike action was annoying when it was announced late Sunday, instead of days like Friday, which according to her can give a room for reconciliation before yesterday for possible intervention.
She said, “My children who are billed to finish their second term examination by Thursday, have already left for school in the early morning for their exam when the information about the strike gets to us. This is unfair. It is negatively affecting the moral of the children toward their exams.’’
The chairman of the Kwali Area Council and FCT ALGON chairman, Danladi Chiya, did not respond to several calls put across to him on the strike neither did he respond to text messages sent to him as at the time of filing the report yesterday.
Originally published in Daily Trust