Academic activities have resumed in public primary and secondary schools across the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) following the suspension of the teachers’ strike, with the teachers’ union considering a possible two-week extension of the school calendar to recover lost instructional time.
Although teachers returned to classrooms on Wednesday, attendance remained low in several schools visited by Abuja Metro across Abaji, Gwagwalada, Bwari and Kuje area councils, as pupils and students gradually returned for lessons.
The resumption followed a directive by the FCT Council of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), led by Comrade Stephen Knabayi, after consultations and reconciliation meetings with the FCT Administration over the issues that triggered the industrial action.
Speaking on the development, the chairman of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Kubwa chapter, Comrade Ameh Baba, said teachers had resumed work immediately to ensure that the time lost during the strike did not further affect the academic calendar.
Baba, however, expressed concern over the implications of losing about two weeks of academic activities, noting that the union would explore available options to make up for the lost period.
He said one of the options being considered was an extension of the school calendar by two weeks to enable teachers to complete the required academic work.
According to him, the strike could have been avoided if the government had addressed the teachers’ grievances promptly.
“The strike was supposed to have been called off since Monday, but unfortunately, those at the helm of affairs on the government side played with the matter, thereby creating more problems rather than solving the initial ones,” he said.
Baba also alleged that the FCT Administration’s threat to issue queries to teachers escalated the dispute, prompting the NLC to respond.
He urged the administration to fulfil its outstanding commitments to teachers, claiming that about 70 per cent of the promises made to the union remained unfulfilled.
The dispute largely centred on teachers’ promotion, particularly the requirement that vacancies must exist before eligible officers could be promoted.
The NLC, while announcing the suspension of the strike, said the resolutions reached with the FCT Administration included provisions for the promotion of education officers based on establishment positions declared by the Education Secretariat.
The labour body explained that the anticipated retirement of several directorate staff would create vacancies for the upward movement of eligible officers.
On the 2025 promotion examination, the NLC said the FCT Civil Service Commission would be notified of the Executive Council’s approval, after which a new examination date would be announced for eligible candidates.
Despite the suspension of the strike, some teachers expressed dissatisfaction with the outcome of the negotiations, insisting that the issue of vacancy requirements for promotion had not been adequately addressed.
One of the teachers who spoke to Abuja Metro said the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, should have directly addressed the demand by the joint labour unions for a review of the promotion policy.
“At least, one had expected that the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, should have addressed the teachers’ demands headlong, especially the vacancy precondition for teachers’ promotion, but it is unfortunate that he did not bother to address the matter,” the teacher said.
Meanwhile, teachers and pupils were seen in classrooms at Pilot Science Primary School, Abaji, where lessons had commenced despite the low turnout.
A teacher at the school, Shuaibu Musa, said staff resumed after receiving a directive from the FCT wing of the NUT late on Tuesday.
The head teacher, Alhaji Salihu Jibrin, said he received the resumption notice through the union’s platform on Tuesday night and subsequently contacted members of staff to return to school.
Jibrin disclosed that more than 300 pupils had resumed as of Wednesday, expressing optimism that attendance would improve before the end of the week.
He commended the FCT NUT leadership, led by Comrade Abdullahi Mohammed Shafas, for its efforts to protect teachers’ welfare. He also praised Wike for settling some outstanding arrears owed to teachers but urged the administration to sustain its efforts to improve their welfare.
At Government Junior Secondary School, Naharati, in Abaji Area Council, academic activities had also resumed, although only a few students and teachers were present.
A teacher, Gabriel Moses, said he learnt of the resumption directive at about 11:12 p.m. on Tuesday through the teachers’ platform and prepared to return to work the following morning.
He called on the FCT Administration to honour its agreements with the unions to prevent another disruption of academic activities.
Similar scenes were observed at Demonstration Primary School and Government Day Secondary School in Gwagwalada, as well as LEA Primary Schools in Gwako and Zuba, where lessons had resumed but pupil and student attendance remained low.
At LEA Primary School in Chibiri community, Kuje Area Council, a few pupils and teachers were also seen in classrooms following the suspension of the industrial action.
With teachers back at work, attention is now turning to the implementation of the agreements reached between labour and the FCT Administration, particularly on promotions and outstanding welfare commitments.
The extent to which the government addresses the lingering concerns could determine whether normal academic activities are sustained or the dispute resurfaces.
