Veteran journalist and public affairs analyst, Laolu Akande, has called on the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, and the six area council chairmen to urgently meet the demands of striking Abuja primary school teachers to restore dignity to public education and rescue thousands of children left stranded at home.
Speaking on the My Take segment of Inside Sources with Laolu Akande on Channels TV on Sunday, Akande painted a grim picture of neglect and decay in the FCT’s public primary schools, warning that the situation mirrors a national pattern of decline.
“The crisis in Abuja’s public primary schools reflects a national pattern of neglect. Public education and healthcare in particular are in steep decline with low income families unfairly bearing the brunt, across the country actually,” Akande stated.
According to him, “Quality education in many public schools is virtually absent and it is the state governors and local government council chairmen that we have to hold responsible for this, not the federal government. According to news reports, the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, a reform-minded public servant, has been practically begging state governors to come and assess nearly 300 billion UBEC funds that have remained idle since 2020.”
Akande decried the prolonged industrial action by local education authority teachers in Abuja, who have been on strike since April over unpaid salaries and entitlements, leaving thousands of children at home.
“Meanwhile, here in Abuja, under the watch of Minister Yesom Wike and local council chairman in the six areas, public primary school teachers have been on strike for three months over unpaid salaries and entitlements,” he said.
He described conditions in some public schools as deplorable, citing the case of the Local Education Authority Primary School in Sabon Geri, where over 500 pupils are squeezed into crumbling classrooms without furniture.
“Conditions in many of the public schools here in Abuja are deplorable. For instance, at the local education authority primary school in Sabon Geri, over 500 students are crammed into dilapidated classrooms with no furniture. While federal workers benefit from the new minimum wage announced by the president, the teachers in FCT are excluded,” Akande lamented.
He also referenced a report by Daniel Adejo of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, highlighting how the ongoing strike has disrupted learning for thousands of children, with desperate parents appealing for help.
“One of the parents was actually reported as saying, and I quote, in Pidgin, ‘For the past three months, I was pickin dey for house. Make the minister help us. Make him beg the area council chairman to do something. This thing no good.’ The parent is correct. This situation is not good at all,” Akande emphasized.
He further detailed the teachers’ core demands, which he described as “modest requests” that should be met urgently.
“On behalf of the teachers, the What About Us movement has risen up with the support of Action Aid Nigeria and they are making the following demands: Number one, immediate implementation of the N70,000 minimum wage. Number two, full enforcement of the December 11, 2014, tripartite agreement. Number three, payment of salary arrears from January 2025. And number four, a plan to offset at least five months of the arrears. We suggest that the arrears are more than five months. Now, every person of goodwill ought to support these modest requests,” he declared.
Akande expressed deep concern over the loss of learning and the damage being done to the future of thousands of children.
“This prolonged strike has paralyzed primary education in the FCT. Where is our compassion? Where is our conscience? Where is even a sense of duty?”
He called on the Minister of Education, Dr. Alausa, Minister Wike, and particularly the six area council chairmen to show leadership and resolve the crisis without further delay.
“Inside Sources fully aligns with a call for a decisive action by the minister [of education] and especially in particular, area council chairman in all the six area councils in Abuja to end this strike and restore the dignity of the teaching profession and get the children back to the classroom. Inside Sources will continue to focus on this matter without relenting until the shame of this strike, gone for three months, is removed from the land,” Akande stated.
