Primary school teachers and workers from the Area Councils, united under the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) and the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), took to the streets of Abuja to protest outside the gate of the FCT Minister.
The demonstration was sparked by the failure of the six area council chairmen to pay the minimum wage and other entitlements owed to the workers.
Waving banners that read, “Implement N70,000 minimum wage with arrears in the six area councils in Abuja now,” and “Implement and pay arrears of our 40% peculiar allowance now,” the protesters clarified their frustrations.
Speaking to journalists, the Chairman of the NUT, Comrade Abdullahi Mohammed Shafas, outlined the ongoing struggle, stating, „In December, we started the battle for the implementation of the minimum wage. We came up with a resolution, with an agreement that they would implement it in January. They didn’t.
“We called for a strike. They said they were going to implement it in February. They didn‘t. The situation escalated when the minister intervened, providing 4.1 billion naira intended for the area councils to address these wage issues.
They got the money, but they ran away with those funds. They have not implemented that. They told all kinds of lies,“ he said.
He lamented that the local government chairmen had refused to act on the funds intended for the teachers and local government workers.
That is the sole reason why we are here. They should implement our payments and give us the rest of the seven months,” he said.
Chairman of NANNM-FCT, James Medan, also expressed concern over the worsening health situation, highlighting that Nigeria ranks second globally in maternal and child mortality rates.
Medan stated that the unions protested to draw public attention to their plight, particularly over the alleged shutdown of Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) across the six Area Councils of the FCT.
The chairman warned that the continued closure of PHCs could further deepen the ongoing health crisis.
“We have fewer than 130 nurses and midwives currently managing these facilities. Women and children are dying because the centres have remained shut for over a month,” he said.
He alleged that despite the FCT Minister releasing over 4.1 billion Naira to resolve the crisis, the area council chairmen had failed to pay workers their entitlements, which include hazard and uniform allowances owed to nurses and other health professionals.
Medan also raised concerns about the disruption of a scheduled nationwide polio vaccination campaign in the FCT, warning that the shutdown of health centres could expose the territory to new disease outbreaks.
The mandate secretary of the FCT Education Secretariat, Hayyo Danlami, who addressed the protesters on behalf of the Minister, assured them their letter would be delivered to the Minister. He also promised that their concerns would be given due attention and addressed accordingly.
Members of the Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN), the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), and other allied bodies joined the protesters.
