The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr. Nyesom Wike, is set to hold a meeting on Thursday with the six area council chairmen, leaders of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), and representatives of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS).
This meeting aims to finalise plans for reopening public primary schools in the FCT, as shared in a statement by NANs in Abuja.
This was disclosed in a statement signed by NANS National President, Olushola Oladoja, and the National Public Relations Officer, Adeyemi Ajasa.
Before now, NANS had planned to stage a protest at the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) secretariat over the prolonged strike by primary school teachers in the FCT.
However, the NANS leadership was prevailed upon by the Department of State Services (DSS) to shelve the protest and embrace dialogue.
Similarly, the NANS leadership held another meeting with the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on FCT, Rep. Muktar Betara, to unravel the reasons behind the industrial action by primary school teachers.
“NANS learnt that the FCT is unique in Nigeria because it operates with full local government autonomy, meaning that local councils are responsible for paying teachers’ salaries.
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“As a result, the FCTA cannot be held solely responsible for any delays or issues in salary payments,” the students’ body said.
It added that Wike, in an attempt to resolve the situation, proposed a solution where the FCTA would pay 60 percent of the overdue salaries, while the area councils would cover the remaining 40 percent.
“However, when this plan was not producing the expected results, the minister decided to hold back some funds from the councils’ revenue for May and June, intending to use that money to pay the overdue salaries.
“Given these developments and the progress made, NANS decided to cancel the planned protest while keeping a close watch on the implementation of the agreements made in the meetings,” it said.
NANS emphasised the dedication of the body to fight for students’ rights and ensuring that every child has access to education despite government challenges.
