Schools in Abuja remain closed as teachers continue strike

Public schools in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, were mostly empty on Tuesday and Wednesday. This is because the indefinite strike by FCT workers reached its seventh day. Students are missing regular lessons and are unsure when classes will start again.

The FCT Council of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) began the strike on October 7. This was over unmet demands from FCT teachers. The strike followed an ultimatum given to the FCT administration to address their concerns.

After the strike was announced, the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, warned the workers about a ‘No Work, No Pay’ policy. Despite this, the workers have stuck to their decision and stayed away from their jobs.

During a visit to some schools in the FCT, PREMIUM TIMES found the classrooms empty. At Government Secondary School, Jabi, a few students were seen playing football outside. No lessons were taking place at the time.

Grace Fagbemi, a Senior Secondary School One (SS1) teacher at the school, told PREMIUM TIMES that teachers have not taught any classes for four working days. She said they are waiting for news from a meeting that might resolve the issues.

“It’s been four working days since we taught the students. I think we teachers need Wike to put in some measures that will benefit the teachers in the long run,” she said.

Some students mentioned that they were sent home when the strike began. Others returned to school because they had nothing to do at home. Daniel Zion, a Junior Secondary School Three (JSS3) student, said he and his classmates were in class when officials told them to leave.

He explained that this happened before morning break on Thursday. “They told us to go home. They chased us because we weren’t even allowed to close the window as we normally do,” he said.

At Junior Secondary School, Jabi 2, no students were present when this newspaper visited on Tuesday. A teacher, who wished to remain anonymous, said the school informed students about the strike on Wednesday.

She noted that the issue is not just about salaries. It also involves delays in promotion exams and the requirement that vacancies must exist before teachers can be promoted. “It’s not about salary, it is about the promotion exam delay and the vacancy clause,” she said.

The teacher expressed frustration, saying many teachers are tired of the situation. She called on the government to resolve the issues before schools can reopen. “A lot of teachers, including myself, are really burnt out and seriously affected. The government must do something before the school can resume,” she said.

She added that she does not know when the strike will end. At the FCT School for the Blind Children, the headmistress mentioned that the strike has affected classes but that they cannot leave their pupils alone. She did not want to give her name or talk much about the strike as she was not authorized to speak.

“The strike hasn’t really changed anything, just that no class is being held. Because of the condition of the children, we can’t leave them because of a strike. Besides, this is a boarding school,” she said.

The headmistress said she will follow whatever decision the NUT makes. Her main concern is the welfare of the students. “I’m just concerned about the students, they have been asking questions. That’s all I can tell you,” she said.

A student, Mariam Abdul, mentioned that she was told classes would not hold until the next day. She heard that the suspension was linked to soldiers who died in an air crash, though she had no confirmation.

The fight between the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) and the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) over teachers’ promotions and career advancement got worse in September. This was after the NLC issued a seven-day ultimatum to the FCTA to sort out the teachers’ career issues and welfare.

The NLC's demands include removing the vacancy requirement for promotions, allowing eligible teachers to take their exams in 2025, and reversing demotion letters sent to education directors affected by the implementation of the Harmonised Retirement Age for Teachers in Nigeria Act, 2022.

This law allows teachers to retire at 65 years old or after 40 years of service, whichever comes first. It also includes education officers as teachers. The union said that teachers hired by the FCT Universal Basic Education Board (UBEB) and the FCT Secondary Education Board (SEB) were meant to teach. They should not have to follow the vacancy-based promotion rules that apply to civil servants, which they claim have stalled their careers.

In its ultimatum, the NLC also wanted the reinstatement of the dissolved management teams of the FCT UBEB and SEB. On October 7, the union declared an indefinite strike, saying their demands had not been met.

But Mr Wike, the FCT minister, called the strike politically motivated. He insisted that the administration has already addressed the workers’ issues. He ordered the six area council chairpersons to enforce the “no work, no pay” policy against workers on strike. He also told school heads and relevant officials to keep attendance records.

The NLC responded that the ‘no work, no pay’ policy is unconstitutional since the strike is legitimate and followed all processes. The NLC Chairperson, Stephen Adalo, stated that the no-work, no-pay rule applies only to illegal strikes.

“Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution, the Trade Unions Act, and ILO Conventions 87, 98 and 151, all ratified by Nigeria, guarantee workers’ right to embark on strike after due process. The NLC FCT has fulfilled all legal conditions,” Mr Adalo said.