Thousands of workers in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have staged a peaceful protest over the non-implementation of the N70,000 national minimum wage and other entitlements by the council chairmen in the territory. The workers, comprising public primary school teachers, area councils’ workers, and medical staff at primary health centers, converged at the Labour House and marched to the FCT Minister’s office.
The workers, under the joint unions of Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), and National Association of Nigeria Nurses And Midwifery (NANNAM), carried placards with inscriptions such as “FCT primary school teachers are dying of hunger” and “Implement N70,000 minimum wage now.”
The state chairman of the FCT wing of NUT, Comrade Abdullahi Mohammed Shafas, said the teachers decided to protest due to the refusal of the six area councils’ chairmen to implement the new national minimum wage and pay other teachers’ entitlements, despite the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, approving and releasing N4.1 billion for the purpose.
The chairman of FCT NANNAM, Comrade Jamadi Medan, expressed worry over the closure of primary health centers, which has affected polio vaccination and access to medications for pregnant women and children. He pleaded with Nigerians to intervene and persuade the area council chairmen to pay the health workers’ entitlements.
The protesters submitted a petition letter to the FCT Mandate Secretary for Education, who promised to deliver it to the minister for urgent action. The workers warned that they would not resume until the council chairmen implement the new minimum wage and pay all other entitlements owing to the workers.
