The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Federal Capital Territory (FCT) chapter, has agreed to call off the three-month primary school teachers’ strike, following the intervention of FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike.
Their decision to call off the strike followed a closed-door meeting with the Area Council Chairmen, leadership of the NUT, the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANs), the National Assembly and representatives of the FCT Administration held on Thursday in Abuja.
Addressing newsmen after the meeting, the Chief of Staff to the minister, Mr. Chidi Amadi revealed that the meeting was convened by the minister, in addition to previous interventions to find a lasting solution to the prolonged teachers’ strike.
He said it was resolved at the meeting that announced that 10 per cent of accrued Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the area councils for the past six months be withheld to settle 70 per cent of the minimum wage owed the teachers.
Amadi added: After extensive deliberation, a decision was reached to put the issues to rest.
Although it will not cover 100 per cent of the debt for now, it will cover about 70 per cent. This is a laudable move towards addressing the fracas once and for all.”
The chief of staff added that the minister had also directed that a Special Committee be constituted, composed of three members of NUT, two members from FCTA, one of the area council chairmen and representative of NANs.
He added that the committee would revisit all the other outstanding issues and within the next two weeks, submit a report detailing how the other outstanding issues would be permanently addressed.
Amadi noted: “In addition to addressing the issues of the primary school teachers, Wike had taken a decision to address all outstanding issues of the local government employees.
“The minister pledged to personally intervene to ensure that their demands are addressed by the FCTA. This is to ensure that the area councils resume full operations effectively immediately.
Speaking on behalf of the area council chairmen, Mr. Abubakar Abdullahi, acknowledged the resolution, saying “although it was not in favour of the area councils, it was necessary to resolve the issues.
“Six months of our IGR had been held to settle this issue. Ours at this point is to appeal to NUT to consider our children and call off the strike. Please NUT, we are calling on you to respect the fact that the minister has taken his time to resolve this matter.
“Wike had clearly stated that by law, he has no right to take the 10 per cent IGR of the area councils to clear the outstanding debt of the teachers.
“However, the chairmen have all agreed because they also, collectively, want an end to the strike and so we have agreed that the 10 per cent IGR should go to the teachers”.
He expressed optimism that the strike would be called off before Friday, so that children would go back to school.
Also, the National President of NANs, Olushola Oladoja, lauded the resolutions and expressed hope that the outcome would finally put the matter to rest and the teachers return to class.