Two weeks after employees of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) and the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) went on strike to force the FCTA to comply with their demands, public elementary and secondary schools in Abuja remained closed on Monday, February 2. The nation's capital's primary health centers (PHCs) and Area Council secretariats, in addition to schools, are not offering services due to the strike.
The ICIR's inspections revealed that schools in a number of local councils were locked, with no teachers or administrators on duty, and students turned back at the gates.
In two public schools within Lugbe, Abuja Municipal Area Council, the ICIR reported that children who arrived early for lessons were trapped outside the school premises, unclear whether academic activities would resume.
Some children waited for several minutes before eventually leaving, expressing displeasure over the ongoing disruption.
The National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) issued an interlocutory injunction last week ordering workers under the Joint Union Action Committee (JUAC) in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to halt their strike, but the strike persisted.
The FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, and the FCTA filed a substantive suit, and the court, presided over by E.D. Subilim, prohibited JUAC and its leadership from carrying out the industrial action until that matter was resolved.
The judge found that although the situation represented a trade dispute and satisfied the required legal elements, workers’ freedom to strike was not unlimited. He ruled that employees are prohibited from going on strike after a trade dispute is referred to the National Industrial Court and that strikes that are currently in progress must be halted until the court makes a decision.
Workers, however, have publicly rejected the decision, stating that they are "staying at home" until their requests are fulfilled rather than being "on strike." Speaking to reporters with her coworkers, the employee stated that workers would only return to work once their demands were satisfied.
The ICIR reported that primary and secondary schools were shut after the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), FCT chapter, directed its members to comply with the JUAC strike following a call by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) for all affiliates in the territory to withdraw services.
FCT NUT Chairman Abdullahi Shafas, Secretary Margaret Jethro, and Publicity Secretary Ibukun Adekeye signed a statement announcing the closure. The government's alleged failure to address long-standing grievances, such as the non-payment of promotion arrears, delays in promotion exercises, unpaid wage awards, and the purported non-remittance of statutory deductions like pensions and housing funds, prompted JUAC to go on strike.
The protracted disruption of public education in the Federal Capital Territory is exacerbated by the current shutdown. The FCT's public primary schools have lost at least 165 school days due to strikes since 2023, according to the ICIR, as a result of teachers' repeated industrial actions over unpaid salaries and allowances.
Many Nigerians are concerned about the current strike, which has widened the crisis and affected both primary and secondary institutions. Wike has cautioned that any employee who disregarded the court's directive would face consequences.
Nancy Nathan, the FCT's Acting Head of the Civil Service, instructed all permanent secretaries and department heads to establish and maintain staff attendance registers right away following the decision.
