The intervention of the FCT Minister Malam Muhammad Musa Bello was primarily responsible for the suspension of the strike action embarked upon by the FCT Chapter of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) over the non-payment of certain allowances to LEA primary school teachers by Area Councils of the FCT.
This was disclosed by the FCTA Secretary for Education, Mr Dahir El-Katuzu following the FCTA Executive Committee meeting which held on Monday, 28th of March 2022 in Abuja and was chaired by the FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello.
In the words of the Secretary “what we need to show people is that it is the intervention of the Hon. Minister for the Federal Capital Territory, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello that gave rise to the achievement of a settlement between the striking NUT and the Six Area Council Chairmen. The grievance on which they went to strike was the non-payment of their salaries, the arrears of promotion and annual increment”.
“We’ve been able to iron that out after a five days meeting with the formation of payment templates from the Area Councils” he added.5. He expressed the appreciation of all stakeholders in the education sector to the Minister for not relenting in his efforts in bringing the trade dispute to an end.
It may be recalled that the FCT Wing of the Nigeria Union of Teachers suspended its eight week long strike on Thursday, 24th March 2022 and also attributed its decision to the efforts of the FCT Minister through the tripartite Committee set up by him to resolve the lingering labour issues between the teachers and the Area Councils.
Speaking on the highlights of the EXCO meeting the FCT General Counsel, Barr. Mohammed Babangida Umar said that a presentation was made by the Coordinator of the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC) and revealed that the activities of the council had led to the creation of thirty seven thousand direct and indirect jobs over the last 4 years.
He said “There was a presentation by the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council, which discussed its achievements and challenges. One of them was its ability to raise about 37,000 jobs from 2018 to date, which I believe is good for the country. To generate 37,0000 direct and indirect jobs is huge and in line with the President’s agenda to create employment in the country.
Umar explained how these jobs were created saying, “You know that building approvals are a major source of creating employment. Through the approvals of buildings by AMMC and constructions in the FCT, jobs have been created for professionals and artisans amongst others. Those are the kind of jobs that I’m referring to.
The meeting was attended by the Permanent Secretary, Mr Olusade Adesola, Chief of Staff to the Minister, Malam Bashir Mai-Bornu, Executive Secretary FCDA Engr Shehu Hadi Ahmed, Mandate Secretaries and other senior officials of the Administration.
