By Eunice Orike
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Federal Capital Territory Council, has commenced an indefinite strike in Abuja over what it described as prolonged career stagnation and welfare concerns affecting teachers in the territory.
The strike, which begins on Wednesday, October 7, followed the expiration of a seven-day ultimatum issued to the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) on September 8.
The council, in a communique signed by its Chairman, Comrade Knabayi Adalo, said it rejected the FCTA’s response to its demands, describing the response as ambiguous and unacceptable.
A major point of disagreement is the implementation of the vacancy clause by the FCTA, which makes the availability of establishment vacancies a condition for the promotion of teachers.
The NLC argued that teachers employed through the FCT Universal Basic Education Board (FCT UBEB) and FCT Secondary Education Board (FCT SEB) were recruited specifically to teach and should therefore not be subjected to promotion conditions designed for pool officers.
According to the union, the policy has resulted in prolonged career stagnation among teachers and has affected their morale.
Among its demands, the NLC called for the immediate removal of the vacancy clause as a requirement for teachers’ promotion.
It also demanded that teachers who were eligible for the 2025 promotion exercise be allowed to sit for the promotion examination alongside, or before, those scheduled for the 2026 exercise.
The union also called for the reversal of redeployment and demotion letters issued to directors who benefited from the Harmonized Retirement Age for Teachers Act, 2022.
It also demanded changes in the management of the FCT Secondary Education Board and FCT Universal Basic Education Board.
The NLC directed workers in both the public and private sectors, including its affiliate unions in schools, hospitals, offices and government establishments, to withdraw their services until its demands are addressed.
It said enforcement committees had been constituted to mobilise workers and monitor compliance across the six area councils of the FCT.
Adalo said the union could not accept a situation where teachers were treated as core civil servants or pool staff for the purpose of promotion.
“Teachers are not core civil servants nor pool staff and cannot be subjected to vacancy-based promotion meant for pool officers,” he said.
He added that efforts to maintain industrial harmony without addressing what the union considers to be injustice would not resolve the dispute.
“There can be no peace without justice,” Adalo said.
The NLC also appealed to parents, residents and civil society organisations in the FCT to support the industrial action, warning that continued failure to resolve the dispute could further affect the education sector in the territory.
