“Another strike?” Mrs Chidimma Ezieche, a foodstuff seller at Kubwa Market, asked her daughter who had joined her at her stall still in her school uniform.
“What is it this time?” she asked, visibly desperate.
Ezieche lamented that her daughter seems to have been at home more than in school these few months due to strike and wondered what the minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Barr. Nyesom Wike is doing on the matter.
Many parents of pupils in FCT public schools, especially those in basic education, are asking the same question.
Recall that the Nigeria Labour Congress(NLC), FCT Council, declared an indefinite strike across the territory over unresolved issues bordering on the promotion and welfare of teachers.
The strike, which commenced on Wednesday, October 7, 2026, followed a decision taken at the State Executive Council meeting of the union held last week at Labour House, Abuja.
In a statement signed by its Chairman, Knabayi S. Adalo, the council directed workers in both the public and private sectors to stay away from their duty posts until further notice.
The declaration came after the expiration of a seven-day ultimatum issued to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory.
The NLC had demanded, among others, the removal of the vacancy precondition for the promotion of FCT teachers, the reconsideration of eligible teachers to enable them to sit for the 2025 promotion examination, and the withdrawal of redeployment and demotion letters issued to directors who benefited from the Harmonised Teachers Retirement Age Act, 2022.
According to the union, the response of the FCTA to its ultimatum was vague and failed to address the core issues.
“The FCTA’s response to our ultimatum was vague and did not address the core issue of the vacancy clause, including the unlawful demotion of directors,” the statement read.
For pupils in public schools across the Federal Capital Territory, the school calendar has increasingly become a calendar of interruptions.
Since 2025, classes have been disrupted by a series of strikes, keeping pupils and students away from their classrooms at different points. What began with a prolonged strike by primary school teachers in March 2025 was followed by further industrial actions in 2026, including strikes involving both primary and secondary school teachers. Now, with another indefinite strike declared in October, the disruption has returned to FCT schools.
Between March 2025 and October 2026, THE WHISTLER’s findings show that at least four strikes disrupted academic activities in the schools.
The first major disruption came on March 24, 2025, when primary school teachers in the FCT began an indefinite strike over unpaid entitlements and other grievances.
The action lasted for more than three months, keeping pupils away from classrooms until the teachers eventually suspended the strike in July. Teachers resumed on July 9, after interventions by the FCT administration and agreements on some of their outstanding demands.
But the return to school did not mark the end of the disruptions.
In January 2026, FCT teachers were again drawn into industrial action when the Nigeria Union of Teachers directed primary and secondary school teachers to join the wider strike by FCT workers. The action meant another interruption to teaching and learning in public schools, although it was not initiated solely by the teachers’ union.
Barely three months later, another disruption followed.
On April 20, 2026, primary and secondary school teachers commenced another indefinite strike. Schools were shut and pupils and students were again kept away from their classrooms. The strike was suspended on April 26, with teachers directed to return to work the following day.
The issue of teachers’ promotion subsequently became another source of tension. In July, teachers disrupted a promotion examination in protest against a requirement that promotion depended on the availability of vacancies. Although the action was not a conventional strike, it added another disruption to the administration of the school system and highlighted that the issues behind the earlier strikes had not been fully resolved.
By September, the dispute had escalated again, with the Nigeria Labour Congress issuing an ultimatum to the FCT administration over the teachers’ grievances.
On October 7, 2026, the dispute spilled into another indefinite strike as the NLC declared industrial action across the FCT, directing workers to shut schools and other establishments. The latest action means that, once again, the academic activities of children in the capital are caught in an industrial dispute.
For pupils and students who have already lost weeks to previous strikes, another shutdown means more than a distorted calendar. Many say it makes them question whether the system cares about their future.
Speaking to THE WHISTLER on the issue, an education expert, Abdullah Sale has raised concerns over the recurring disruptions and its impact on learning in the FCT.
Sale, the Regional Coordinator for the Alliance of Civil Societies for Sustainable, Inclusive and Transformative Education (ACSITE) and a member of the Civil Society Action Coalition on Education For All (SACEFA) said the situation has become a worrisome trend.
The expert, who said he has been a key stakeholder in FCT education for over 15 years, monitoring projects and engaging with teachers and pupils, noted that unresolved welfare issues have consistently pitched teachers against the government.
“Over the past years, there have been some issues that couldn’t be negotiated between the teachers and the government with regards to their welfare that have pitched them against each other, that teachers have been going on strikes almost every other term,” he said.
He recalled that when the current administration came in, it inherited issues of unpaid allowances and the implementation of the Harmonised Teachers Retirement Age Act, 2022, promised during the Buhari administration.
He said an arrangement where Area Councils were to shoulder 60 percent of the burden did not work as the councils were unwilling to pay.
He noted that the current strike is different from previous ones that were largely tied to the Area Councils which handle basic education.
Sale said when children are out of school, they are left at the mercy of society.
“When a child is out of school, what do you expect him to do? How do you expect him to think? He goes to a different school, either a school where people teach him kidnapping or banditry or teach him social ills. And that’s why you have them roaming around the streets, being a nuisance,” he said.
He explained that the strikes affect not just academic performance but also character development and curriculum coverage.
“If a term is for 12 weeks and they are on strike for four weeks, those four weeks are lost. You have to, as a child, go and think of how to make up for those four weeks. The teachers don’t care. Even when they go back to school, they just continue and just meet up for the term. They haven’t covered the syllabus,” he said.
According to him, the teachers themselves return demoralised and do not put in their best.
“This basic is the foundation of the whole thing. If this is basic now, what will now happen when they get to secondary school and university? That’s why we have children struggling at both the secondary and tertiary institutions.
“Remember, it’s not just about academics, even characters. And that’s why on your results, you have in character and in learning. So many of them, those times that they are out on the streets, their character is being moulded by other people,” he said.
Sale called on the FCT Administration to be sincere in its dealings with teachers.
” So my call is that the government should just do the needful. They hold everything to make this thing work. If the teachers are not sincere, they should call the teachers to order and even take them to court.
“But once the government doesn’t do what they ought to do, then they are at fault. They are to be blamed,” he said.
On its part, the Nigeria Union of Teachers, NUT, has blamed the FCT Administration for the prolonged dispute.
A senior official of the NUT who pleaded anonymity because he was not authorized to speak officially, told THE WHISTLER that the reason behind the current strike is solely the problem of teachers, but this time it involves the FCT Administration and not the Area Councils.
When asked if there was any headway in resolving the impasse, he said there was none, accusing the authorities of playing politics instead of addressing the core issues.
“No, they are just doing what they are used to now. Yesterday, they sent a letter, a letter of threats from UBEB. Instead of addressing the issue, they are playing politics with it,” he said.
The official, who expressed sadness over the effect of the strike on pupils, particularly primary school children who had just returned from a previous strike, alleged that teachers were being intimidated to resume.
“They thought when they sent letters to teachers, threatening them that they should resume work, then they have impressed the minister and then intimidate the workers. That cannot happen under the watch of NLC,” he said.
He warned that the handling of the strike could have wider implications, noting that the national leadership of the NLC is watching the development.
“There is a way they will even handle this strike. NLC is aware, the National Office of NLC is aware… If they are not careful, this strike can result to another thing. It can result to nationwide,” he added.
It appears the dispute is heading towards a more dangerous turn as the threats alleged by the teachers may have materialised.
On October 9, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, directed the six area council chairmen to enforce a no-work-no-pay policy against teachers and other council workers participating in the indefinite strike.
Wike, who gave the directive after a meeting with the chairmen in Abuja, described the strike as politically motivated, arguing that the issues raised by the union had either been resolved or were being addressed.
“We want to state categorically and let it be known to the public: this so-called strike declaration is political, and we will not accept it. We will not accept it because there’s no basis for anybody to call for a strike,” he said.
He maintained that there were no outstanding disputes involving the local government areas, local education authorities or primary schools, and directed the area councils to call teachers and civil servants back to work.
“I’ve directed the area councils to go back and call their teachers and civil servants. If anybody does this, we’ll implement ‘no work, no pay.’ Enough is enough; we can’t continue with this,” the minister said.
As the standoff between the NLC and the FCT Administration continues, parents and pupils across the territory say they hope the issues will be resolved soon so that children can return to the classroom.
