Abuja elders’ forum demands end to teachers’ strike
Elders under the aegis of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Senior Citizens Forum have appealed to the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, and the six area council chairmen to immediately resolve the three-month-old strike that has paralysed primary education and healthcare services across the territory. At press conference, Elder Danjuma Tanko Dara, the forum’s coordinator, described […]
Elders under the aegis of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Senior Citizens Forum have appealed to the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, and the six area council chairmen to immediately resolve the three-month-old strike that has paralysed primary education and healthcare services across the territory.
At press conference, Elder Danjuma Tanko Dara, the forum’s coordinator, described the situation as a monumental failure of governance that has left the nation’s capital in a state of social emergency.
“The simultaneous collapse of our primary schools and healthcare centres represents a double tragedy for our society.
“While our children roam the streets instead of being in classrooms, our sick and vulnerable are denied basic medical care. This is not the Abuja we envisioned.
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These acts are broad reasons the FCT should have a full scale of democratic structures,” he said.
‘’The industrial action, now entering its 14th week, stems from the area councils’ failure to implement the N70,000 national minimum wage and clear salary arrears dating back to 2023 for both teachers and primary healthcare workers.
“The honourable minister must rise to this occasion. We know his reputation as a man of action. Now is the time to deploy that political will to rescue our education and health sectors,” he said.
The forum proposed concrete solutions, which include the immediate reconvening of the tripartite committee, direct deduction from councils’ allocations to pay workers and the establishment of a special intervention fund for area council workers.