Public primary school teachers, area councils’ workers as well as medical staff at the primary health centers across the six area councils of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), on Friday, staged a peaceful protest over non-implementation of the N70,000 national minimum wage and other entitlements by the council chairmen in the territory.
The workers organised themselves under the joint unions of Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) as well as National Association of Nigeria Nurses And Midwifery (NANNAM) to stage the massive protest, blocking the main entrance to the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike’s office at the FCTA Secretariat in Area 11.
The protesters, in their thousands, first converged at the Labour House, Abuja at about 11:12 am, carrying placards with an inscription, ‘FCT primary school teachers are dying of hunger,’ ‘Pay us our 25 and 35 percent salary increase now,’ ‘Implement N70,000 minimum wage now,” among others and matched to down to the FCTA gate at Area 11.
Speaking to journalists at the FCTA’s gate, the state chairman of the FCT wing of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Comrade Abdullahi Mohammed Shafas, who led the protests alongside other unions’ leaders, said the teachers decided to embark on the protest to present the unions’ position over the refusal of the six area councils’ chairmen to implement the new national minimum wage and the payment of other teachers’ entitlements.
He said it is unfortunate that despite the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, approving and releasing N4.1 billion to the council chairmen to pay the minimum wage, the chairmen were still adamant to pay.
He said: “It is unfortunate that the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, released N4.1 billion to the six area council chairmen to pay the teachers’ minimum wage but they didn’t pay, they ate the money. They are claiming that the money given to them was meant for projects. We don’t see the kind of projects they are doing in the area councils that is more important than the education of the children.’’
He said it is worrisome that primary schools, especially those in the rural communities, are in dilapidated state, adding that some of the schools have been taken over by weeds due to the closure of the schools as a result of the ongoing strike by the teachers.
He warned that the teachers would not resume until the council chairmen implement the new minimum wage and paid all other entitlements owing the workers.
Also speaking, the chairman of the FCT chapter of the National Association of Nurses And Midwifery (NANAM), who was also part of the protest with his members, Comrade Jamadi Medan, said members of the association had close down all primary health centers across the six area councils since the strike started more than a month ago.
He said the association was worried that despite Nigeria being ranked second in maternal and child deaths, the government is still watching as primary health centers are being closed down by workers as a result of the affordable strike.
He said: “You can imagine poor pregnant women and children dying due to lack of access to medications. We are pleading with Nigerians to talk to the six area council chairmen to pay the health workers their entitlements for them to return to work.’’
According to him, there are about 202 primary health center centers across the six councils in the FCT with less than 103 midwives manning them.
He added: “Again, we are very worried that the polio vaccination for the children is supposed to have commenced but the strike has affected the exercise. This is going to affect the poor children, just because some people who called themselves area council chairmen have diverted the money given to them to pay health workers’ entitlements for their selfish interest,” he said.
The FCT NANNAM chairman added that apart from the minimum wage, there was also CONHESS salary and other entitlements which are not being implemented by the six area council chairmen.