Chief of Staff to FCT Minister, Mr. CHIDI Amadi, said the breakthrough was reached during a closed-door meeting with area council chairmen, NUT leadership, and representatives of the FCT Administration.
Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) may soon call off its three-month strike following the intervention of FCT Minister Nyesom Wike.
Chief of Staff to the minister, Mr. Chidi Amadi, announced this on Thursday after closed door meeting with key stakeholders in Abuja.
Mr. Amadi said a breakthrough was reached during a closed-door meeting with area council chairmen, NUT leadership, and representatives of the FCT Administration.
He explained that the meeting was convened to find a lasting solution to the prolonged teachers’ strike.
“After extensive deliberation, a decision was reached to put the issues to rest,” he said. Part of the resolution includes withholding the 10% accrued Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the area councils for the past six months to settle 70% of the minimum wage owed to teachers.
The minister has also directed the constitution of a Special Committee, comprising three members of NUT, two members from FCTA, one of the area council chairmen, and a representative of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANs).
The committee will revisit all outstanding issues and submit a report within two weeks detailing how the issues will be permanently addressed.
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.”
He appealed to NUT to consider the children and call off the strike.
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.
“Wike had clearly stated that by law, he has no right to take the 10% 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,” he said.
The NUT Chairman, Mohammed Shafa, acknowledged the deliberation but said he would get back to the NUT State Executive Council, where the final decision would be taken.
The teachers had embarked on the strike in March over non-implementation of minimum wage, non-implementation and payment of salary increases, and non-implementation and payment of peculiar allowance, among other issues.
NAN
