The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, is set to meet with chairmen of FCT area councils, the Nigeria Union of Teachers, and the National Association of Nigerian Students to discuss the reopening of public primary schools in the FCT.
The meeting is scheduled to take place on Thursday, and Nigerians have been reacting.
Speaking via a press statement, NANS President, Olushola Oladoja, and the group’s Public Relations Officer, Adeyemi Ajasa, confirmed that the meeting will go down tomorrow.
According to Olushola, it had earlier planned a mass protest at the FCT Administration Secretariat on Wednesday morning; however, the plan changed after its leaders were invited to a high-level meeting at the Department of State Services Headquarters.
He stated that the ongoing strike and its effects on students were discussed in detail, adding that the first engagement led to another strategic session with Muktar Betara, Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on FCT.
Disclosing that the meetings helped clarify the reason for the teachers’ strike and what the Wike-led FCTA has done so far, Olushola revealed that Wike said the FCT Administration is not directly responsible for the backlog of teachers’ salaries, and therefore should not be held solely accountable.
“That the FCT remains the only unit of the federation operating full local government autonomy; hence, all salary payments, including that of primary school teachers, are the sole responsibility of the area councils.
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,” NANS quoted Wike as saying.
The NANS President further noted that Wike has offered a bailout plan that will see the FCTA take responsibility for 60% of the teachers’ unpaid salaries, while the councils settle the remaining 40%.
He emphasised that NANS remains committed to defending the rights of Nigerian students, stressing that no child should be denied access to quality education.
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“In a show of responsibility and commitment to resolving the crisis, Wike intervened by proposing a bailout, with FCTA offering to pay 60 per cent of the outstanding arrears while the area councils cover the remaining 40 per cent.
When it became clear that this arrangement was not yielding desired results, the FCT minister withheld the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the area councils for the months of May and June, with a plan to utilise these funds to make up the 40 per cent requested of area council to clear the outstanding arrears owed to teachers.
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,” NANS added.
