PUBLIC primary schools in Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have faced prolonged disruptions since 2023, as repeated strike actions by teachers kept classrooms closed for a cumulative period of at least 165 days.
The disruptions, which occurred across four major industrial actions between September 2023 and July 2025, were led by the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), FCT chapter, and primarily affected public primary schools.
Until the most recent action, the strikes were largely triggered by unresolved welfare issues, including the non-payment of about 60 per cent of 25-month minimum wage arrears. Others are the non-implementation of approved 25 per cent and 35 per cent salary increases, as well as the non-payment of a 40 per cent peculiar allowance.
The union also demanded the payment of ₦35,000 wage award arrears and the full implementation of a template on outstanding teachers’ entitlements reached in negotiations with the government in 2022.
Union leaders repeatedly expressed frustration that agreements were reached during negotiations but were not fully implemented, leaving primary school teachers perennially hopeful.
The cumulative disruption has affected academic calendars, delayed syllabi, and forced some parents to withdraw their wards and enroll them in private schools, where they pay exorbitant tuition fees. The strikes also worsen out-of-school children crisis in Nigeria, with nearly 20 million children unable to enjoy formal education.
In the most recent development, the dispute has expanded beyond primary schools, with secondary schools joining the industrial action after the NUT aligned with the Joint Union Action Congress (JUAC) in its dispute with the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA).
The JUAC directed the shutdown of both primary and secondary schools, according to a communiqué signed by the FCT NUT Chairman, Abdullahi Shafas; Secretary, Margaret Jethro; and Publicity Secretary, Ibukun Adekeye.
Timeline of teachers strikes under Wike’s watch
The first strike under Wike’s began on September 11, 2023, when primary school teachers embarked on an indefinite industrial action over the non-payment of 25 months’ minimum wage arrears, 40 per cent peculiar allowance, and other entitlements.
The union suspended the strike on October 2, 2023, after assurances that the issues would be resolved within six weeks.
Speaking on the suspension, the NUT chairman, Stephen Knabayi, said the decision followed an agreement reached between the union and chairmen of the six Area Councils, after Wike’s intervention.
However, the teachers resumed the strike on January 15, 2024. They described it as a continuation of the earlier action because the government allegedly failed to keep its words. The strike lasted until January 29, 2024, when they returned to classrooms following renewed negotiations.
About a year later, on September 18, 2024, the union again downed tools over unresolved welfare issues, including unpaid arrears and allowances. The action was described as a continuation of the earlier strikes.
That action was suspended on October 8, 2024, allowing schools to reopen after roughly three weeks of closure.
The most prolonged disruption began on March 24, 2025, when teachers embarked on a fresh strike over the non-implementation of the new national minimum wage, alongside outstanding arrears and other benefits. The strike lasted for more than three months and was suspended on July 9, 2025, following the release of funds to partially settle the teachers’ demands.
Across the four strikes, public primary schools in the FCT were closed for approximately 162 to 165 days.
Consequently, public primary schools in the nation’s capital have lost nearly an academic year to strikes under the minister.
However, with the ongoing JUAC-led strike, which the NUT has joined, public schools in the FCT have now been shut at least five times under Wike.
Workers’ struggle
The ICIR reports that while primary school teachers in the FCT are employed and paid by the six Area Councils, the FCT Administration has been repeatedly criticised for failing to prevent recurring strikes that have disrupted education in the nation’s capital.
Throughout the disputes, Wike has maintained that primary education falls under the jurisdiction of the Area Councils. In April 2024, the minister blamed the council chairmen for failing to pay teachers despite receiving statutory allocations.
He subsequently approved the release of funds, sourced from 10 per cent of six months’ Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the Area Councils, to offset wage arrears. The move led to the suspension of the strike.
However, with the ongoing JUAC action now affecting both primary and secondary schools, there have been more concerns over further disruptions to public education in the nation’s capital.
The strikes have also coincided with similar actions by other Area Council workers, including primary healthcare staff and other FCTA workers.
Critics also highlighted Wike’s recent 17-day visit to Rivers State, where he abandoned his constitutional duties in Abuja to tour his state’s 23 local government areas preparatory the 2027 general elections.
The former Rivers State governor described his tour as a “thank-you” visit, while also drumming support for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election.
He used the period to take aim at the state Governor Fubara has been at loggerheads with him.
Fubara, Wike’s successor and godson, who is currently facing renewed impeachment case with the Rivers State Assembly, has abandoned Wike in his Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) and defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), where is serving. Recall that President Bola Tinubu had appointed Wike, one of the PDP main leaders as minister shortly after he assumed office in May 2023. The minister has remained a member of the PDP, despite a legion of crises that have befallen it, with its members defecting to other political groups.
The Rivers State House of Assembly initiated the impeachment process against Fubara shortly after Wike accused the governor of reneging on the peace deal brokered by Tinubu.
During his tour, The ICIR reports that the FCTA workers issued a seven-day ultimatum over what they described as unresolved and long-standing labour and welfare issues.
The notice, issued by JUAC FCT, took effect on January 7, 2026. In a statement signed by its president, Rifkatu Iortyer, and secretary, Abdullahi Umar Saleh, the union warned that it would resort to strike action if the demands were not addressed.
The workers listed several grievances, including the failure to release approved overhead costs for six months in 2025, and the non-payment of five months’ wage award arrears.
They also cited alleged staff intimidation and harassment, restrictions on phone use among workers of the FCT Geographic Information System, and the non-payment of enforcement officers, street sweepers, and cleaners under the Abuja Environmental Protection Board and Satellite Town Development Department.
Allegation on the failure of Wike-led administration to pay Abuja sweepers came on the heel of multiple media reports, including those of The ICIR, which exposed the growing filth and stench in Nigeria’s capital under the minister’s supervision.
