The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, is expected to meet with key stakeholders on Thursday to address the prolonged strike by primary school teachers in the Federal Capital Territory, which has kept public primary schools shut for several months.

According to a statement jointly signed by the National President of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Olushola Oladoja, and the association’s Public Relations Officer, Adeyemi Ajasa, the meeting will involve the chairmen of all FCT area councils, officials of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), and representatives of NANS.

NANS disclosed that the planned meeting is part of a multi-stage intervention effort to resolve the teachers’ strike, which has significantly disrupted academic activities across the FCT.

The association revealed that it had earlier mobilised for a peaceful protest at the FCT Administration Secretariat on Wednesday morning but suspended the action after receiving an invitation to a high-level dialogue with security and political stakeholders.

The student body said the first engagement took place at the Department of State Services (DSS) headquarters in Abuja, where the situation was thoroughly examined. This was followed by a second meeting with Muktar Betara, Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on FCT, which provided additional insight into the underlying causes of the industrial action.

According to NANS, a third meeting with the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, provided further clarification. The minister reportedly explained that the FCT is the only jurisdiction in Nigeria where full local government autonomy is practiced. As such, payment of salaries for primary school teachers falls solely under the responsibility of the area councils, and not directly the FCT Administration.

Wike was quoted as saying, “The FCT Administration is not directly responsible for the backlog of teachers’ salaries and therefore should not be held solely accountable for the inadequacies of the area councils.”

In a bid to resolve the deadlock, the minister had earlier offered a bailout plan, with the FCTA committing to pay 60 percent of the teachers’ outstanding salaries, while the area councils were to settle the remaining 40 percent.

However, when the area councils reportedly failed to fulfil their part of the agreement, the FCTA took further action by withholding their Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) for May and June, with plans to use the funds to cover the councils’ share of the unpaid salaries.

NANS stated that the withheld funds are expected to be released before the end of the week and that it will monitor how the resolutions from Thursday’s meeting are implemented.

“We reaffirm our commitment to defending the rights of Nigerian students and ensuring that no child is denied access to education due to governmental lapses,” the statement read.

The students’ body has now suspended its planned protest, expressing optimism that the forthcoming dialogue will lead to a quick resolution and the reopening of public schools across the FCT.

Public primary schools in the nation’s capital have been under lock and key for several months following the strike action by teachers over unpaid salary arrears.

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