Minimum Wage: Striking FCT Workers Besiege Wike’s Office

Wike

Public primary school teachers, area councils’ workers as well as medical staff at the primary health centers across the six area councils of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) yesterday staged a peaceful protest over non implementation of the N70,000 national minimum wage and other entitlements by the council chairmen in the territory.

The workers organised themselves under the joint unions of Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) as well as National Association of Nigeria Nurses And Midwifery (NANNAM) to stage the massive protest, blocking the main entrance to the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike’s office at the FCTA Secretariat in Area 11.

Abuja Metro reports that the protesters, in their thousands, first converged at the Labour House, Abuja at about 11:12 am, carrying placards with an inscription, ‘FCT primary school teachers are dying of hunger,’ ‘Pay us our 25 and 35 percent salary increase now,’ ‘Implement N70,000 minimum wage now,” among others and matched to down to the FCTA gate at Area 11.

Speaking to journalists at the FCTA’s gate, the state chairman of the FCT wing of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Comrade Abdullahi Mohammed Shafas, who led the protests alongside other unions’ leaders, said the teachers decided to embark on the protest to present the unions’ position over the refusal of the six area councils’ chairmen to implement the new national minimum wage and the payment of other teachers’ entitlements.

He said it was unfortunate that despite the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, approving and releasing N4.1 billion to the council chairmen to pay the minimum wage, the chairmen were still adamant to pay.

He said, “It is unfortunate that the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, released N4.1 billion to the six area council chairmen to pay the teachers’ minimum wage but they didn’t pay, they ate the money. They are claiming that the money given to them was meant for projects. We don’t see the kind of projects they are doing in the area councils that is more important than the education of the children.’’