By Remi Johnson
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Council, has declared an indefinite strike across the FCT over unresolved issues concerning the promotion of teachers and other labour-related demands.
According to the statement signed by the council’s Chairman, Comrade Knabayi Adalo, the strike takes immediate effect following the expiration of a seven-day ultimatum issued by the NLC FCT Council to the FCT Administration.
The NLC directed all public and private teachers in the FCT to stay away from their duty posts until further notice, stressing that the industrial action would be “total and indefinite.”
A major demand of the organised labour is the removal of what it described as the “obnoxious vacancy precondition” for the promotion of FCT teachers.
The union also demanded that teachers who were eligible for promotion in 2025 be allowed to sit for their promotion examinations.
The council further demanded the withdrawal of redeployment and demotion letters issued to directors benefiting from the Harmonized Teachers Retirement Age Act, 2022.
According to the NLC, teachers recruited by the FCT Universal Basic Education Board (UBEB) and FCT Secondary Education Board (SEB) were specifically employed to teach and should therefore be promoted as and when due.
It argued that teachers should not be subjected to vacancy-based promotion arrangements applicable to pool officers.
The labour council said attempts to sustain industrial harmony without addressing what it described as the underlying injustice would not resolve the dispute, insisting that “there can be no peace without justice.”
The NLC appealed to parents, civil society organisations and other well-meaning Nigerians to bear with workers during the strike and prevail on the FCT Administration to address the issues in order to avert further disruption to the education sector.
The council called for unity among workers, declaring: “A people united can never be defeated.”