Primary school teachers in the Federal Capital Territory have called off their over three-month strike, following interventions by FCT minister Nyesom Wike.
The FCT wing of the Nigeria Union of Teachers disclosed this in a communique on Tuesday.
The communique was jointly signed by the union’s chairman, Abdullahi Shafas, secretary, Margaret Jethro and publicity secretary, Ibukun Adekeye.
In the communique, the union leadership directed the teachers to return to the classrooms and continue with their legitimate duties.
They applauded the minister’s intervention in the impasse through a stakeholder meeting.
FCT primary school teachers had embarked on an indefinite strike on March 24 over unpaid minimum wage and other welfare concerns.
The FCT minister, although not responsible for the payment of primary school teachers, intervened several times, including a meeting with union leaders and other stakeholders on July 3.
Some of the stakeholders included the chairmen of the House Committee on FCT, the area councils, and ancillary matters; the FCT head of service; the FCT permanent secretary; the treasury; and executives of the NUT, among others.
“The payment of FCT primary school teachers, as explained by the minister, is the responsibility of the area councils. The minister, however, emphasised the inadequacy of the councils’ allocation to cater for the payment and therefore offered the following:
“The release of 10 per cent of the area councils’ six months accrued internally generated revenue, amounting to N16 billion, to augment the payment of the minimum wage for June and 60 per cent of its nine months’ arrears.
“The constitution of a Special Committee to, within two weeks, harmonise all the outstanding arrears detailing the sourcing of funds for the permanent settlement of all the backlog,” the communique stated.
The union leaders stated that, following the minister’s intervention, SWEC convened an emergency session on July 4 to deliberate on the offers and review the strike action.
NUT added that, after exhaustive deliberation on the offers, including the minister’s positive disposition, SWEC resolved to suspend the strike if the N16 billion is released and the teachers receive payment.
“Consequent upon the implementation of the minimum wage and payment of five months’ arrears into the teachers’ accounts on July 8, the SWEC hereby suspends the ongoing strike.
“The council appeals to all primary school teachers in FCT to, with effect from Wednesday, July 9, return to the classrooms and continue with their legitimate duties. The union will intensify efforts to ensure the payment of the remaining entitlements,” said the union.
NAN
