The Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT), Federal Capital Territory Wing, has temporarily halted its ongoing strike for a period of six weeks following the intervention of the FCT Minister, Mr. Nyesom Wike…CONTINUE READING....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶
Stephen Knabayi, the Chairman of the union, confirmed the suspension in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Monday.
Knabayi explained that the strike has been suspended from October 2nd to November 13th to allow for the implementation of commitments made by the Chairmen of the six Area Councils and the FCT Minister.
It is worth recalling that the NUT in FCT began an indefinite strike on September 11th over several issues, including unpaid 40 percent peculiar allowances and other outstanding allowances.
They were also concerned about non-payment of 25 months’ arrears of the 2019 approved national minimum wage, non-release of promotion letters, non-implementation of released promotion letters, non-payment of promotion arrears, non-upgrading of concerned teachers, non-implementation of salaries for upgraded teachers, and non-implementation of annual salary increments in some councils. Additionally, they raised concerns about non-compliance with the agreement on payments of the backlog of teachers’ entitlements.
Knabayi explained that the decision to suspend the strike was reached following an agreement between the striking teachers and the Chairmen of the six Area Councils, facilitated by the intervention of the FCT Minister. A six-member committee has also been established to seek lasting solutions to these issues.
He further elaborated, “We reconsidered our position and suspended the strike following the intervention of the FCT minister. We had embarked on the strike over seven issues, and agreements have been reached for the implementation of five of them, effective from October.
As for the remaining two issues – peculiar allowances and payment of minimum wage arrears – the minister has agreed to intervene with an agreement for their implementation within four weeks.
Therefore, we have suspended the strike for six weeks to allow the minister to take action and oversee the implementation of these commitments.”
Knabayi praised the timely and impactful intervention of Minister Nyesom Wike, expressing hope that the agreement would be implemented promptly.
He also noted that communication gaps had contributed to the strained relationship between the union and the council chairmen, stating that teachers were willing to tolerate delays in payment if they were kept informed about payment plans.
