INTERVIEW: FCT Area Councils Are Not Proactive – NUT Chairman

Comrade Baba Ameh is the Chairman, Nigeria Union of Teachers, Kubwa Branch, Bwari Area Council in the Federal Capital Territory(FCT). He spoke with THE WHISTLER on unpaid allowances, teacher welfare, training, school infrastructure in the territory, the state of education in Nigeria, and why the nation must invest in education.

There appears to be a significant gap between secondary and primary schools in the FCT, especially regarding infrastructure and teacher welfare. What accounts for this disparity?

Actually, the gap is there. And the reason is not far-fetched. We have tiers of government. We have three tiers of government: the federal, state, and local. That is how schools also operate. That is how education operates.

There are some schools that are handled by the federal, like the unity schools. Then at every state they have their own state government schools that the state government manages. Then you also come down to the local government, as it is supposed to be.

So, as it is practised here in the FCT. The primary schools in the FCT are under the Area Councils. All the public primary schools are under them.

So in terms of salary and funding, who is responsible for the primary school teachers?

In terms of salary and funding, it is directly under the supervision of the local government, which is the Area Councils in the FCT. So anytime there is an upward review in wages for workers, it is expected that as the FCT Authority is doing its own, which is directly monitored by the FCTA, the Area Council will do its own.
But oftentimes we discover that some of the leaders of the Area Council, for one reason or another, on their own, feel some responsibilities are not meant for them.
So, they will wait. Sometimes they even make comparisons. They try to compare: “Is this thing happening in other local governments across the 36 states?” They forget that this is the Federal Capital Territory. So, we are operating at the federal level… whatever, in the wisdom of government, anytime they come up with an upward review in wages, for instance minimum wage, or peculiar allowance, they are expected to comply.
For example, the issue of minimum wage was a struggle. When other sectors in the FCT had already gotten theirs, almost two, three years later, we were still battling with minimum wage until finally, by the grace of God, sometime last year, it was implemented, and then the Area Councils paid.

So, what we are saying in a nutshell is that when there is an upward review in wages, the local government, which is the Area Council in the FCT, is not proactive to go to the higher authority.

What is the current issue at hand between Area Council and the FCF Teachers?

For instance, the issue at hand today is the peculiar allowance. This benefit was announced by the Buhari administration at the twilight of his administration when he was about to leave. He introduced it to bridge the gap in salaries because he discovered that there are some sectors, parastatals, and ministries that their salaries are okay, while the majority of ministries earn low.

So, they decided to come up with what they call consolidated salary structures, where a certain percentage was introduced, which is called 40 percent of your consolidated basic. When it is calculated, it will raise the salary.

In the case of LEAs, which are Local Education Authorities, three and a half years down the line, we are still battling with this. Up until recently, when we embarked on a strike, we give it to the Minister of FCT, Barr. Nyesom Wike for helping find a lasting solution. These issues are supposed to be taken care of to a certain extent by the Area Council.

Where they have a challenge or whatever, that is when they are suppose to bring the issue before the Minister. But we discovered that, three years down the line, there was no attempt. And we, as a union, discovered that the motive behind it is that they can incur a lot of debt and abandon it for another person coming in.

And that was what led to the strike we had recently. And by the grace of God, from that strike, the Minister called and was able to address all the issues holistically.

What else was part of the agreement?

Apart from the peculiar allowance, which is 40 percent, we have what we call a wage award of N35,000. That was not paid.

Wage award?

Yes, award. Wage award of N35,000. It was not paid for 11 months.

Was it supposed to be every month?

No, there is a period for it. It has stopped. That wage award was introduced while awaiting the new minimum wage.
So it ran for about 11 months. And you know that the new minimum wage took effect sometime in May 2024. From this peculiar allowance, the N35,000 is a whole package.
There’s another one, 25 percent, and so on and so forth. It’s a whole package that is supposed to improve the lives of workers, not just teachers, but the lives of workers. Unfortunately, the Area Councils, because of their inaction, refuse to read the Fourth Schedule of the Nigerian Constitution where their responsibility is vested.
They are supposed to go there and study and understudy some of their own responsibilities as a tier of government. Unfortunately, what we see is that everything over time has been politicised. And some of them are even happy that workers are embarking on strike.
It’s unfortunate. These are signs and symptoms of the failure of government. And they are not helping the President. When we talk about renewal, a progressive leader is supposed to be proactive. A regressive leader is the one that is not proactive. Because you see two things: it’s either you are progressive or you are regressive. So these are issues bedevilling the Area Council as a whole.

What is the status of the 40 percent payment now?

Now, the Minister has budgeted or earmarked billions , which was calculated to settle the backlog. There was a plea that the money cannot be paid at once, at a stretch. The union accepted it on the condition that N5bn will be coming out every month: N3bn from the Area Council’s IGR, and the Minister himself volunteered N2bn from the FCT account.

However, when the payment commenced, there were still errors. Those who were vested with the responsibility of doing the calculation did not calculate it well. When the money was paid to the teachers, the teachers were underpaid. And we have taken up the matter at the level of the State Wing. What I’m trying to tell you is that, at the moment, they are reviewing the payment that was made.
Because some of these errors can lead to another round of industrial disharmony. So as it stands, thank God, last month, five-month arrears were released to teachers. And that was because the agreement was a holistic agreement.

The N35,000, the 25 percent , the 40 percent, and every other arrears were supposed to be embedded in the whole money. What we noticed was that they only singled out the peculiar allowance and paid five-month arrears. So we are not comfortable with that position.
We are expecting that at the end of this month, the right thing should be done. So we are waiting and we are watching.

Apart from salaries and wages…what about training For teachers? Who is responsible?

The training is under Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC). UBEC plays a supervisory role. They are supposed to design, organise, and manage the training.

And are they doing it?

The training of teachers, to a large extent, I would say yes. Because sometimes you hear of workshops, this kind of workshop, that kind of workshop. But if I am to speak for teachers, I would say that some of the problems we are having in education, part of it, the bureaucrats in education are also responsible.
They are the core people. Because, for instance, the Minister will not be everywhere, the President will not be everywhere, but there are people, directors for this and that, who are vested with these responsibilities.
For instance, I’m a union leader. If I’m to advocate for my members and I come to a media or public space and lie, or I prize my members very low, even the Bible says, “When the foundation is destroyed, what can the righteous do?”
So you discover that those who are vested in making a case, maybe for budgets, if the federal government wants to know the budget for education, it goes through the Minister of Education. And we have a Minister. Then down the line, we have directors, we have panels, and the rest of them.

If all these people, with all hands on deck, do the needful, I won’t be coming to cry out that the kind of workshop given to us does not come with honour. The workshops that teachers attend do not give teachers their rightful place in society.
A workshop itself, apart from training and knowledge, also serves as motivation.
There are some things that you expect to see in a workshop. When you come to a workshop especially the way you are treated.

Can you give an example?

For instance, you go to a workshop that requires you to travel some kilometres away from your station. You are expected to be paid an allowance because in this same country, people travel out of the country and they get extra pay.
So why won’t teachers be treated such? Before this period, we witnessed where some teachers were sent to China, sent to Japan, here and there, to go and understudy their curriculum or whatever. Some even went for science competitions and the rest. Today, where are those things?
So the standard is dropping. And we must tell ourselves the truth. Those who are vested with this responsibility should rise up. They should sit up.

We that are saying this, if a doctor is speaking in the medical field, he is saying it because of the health of the citizens. We too, that we are in education, if we are speaking like this, we are just crying for the future of the country.

Because there will come a time when somebody like me might not be in the system again. I must exit. But what kind of society are we leaving behind? So these are things that, if all of us look at it, I’m just saying that we can do better.

How do you want the training of teachers to be?

First and foremost, we are in the ICT age now. That is Information and Communication Technology. So if that is the case, it should be a right of every teacher to have a gadget. It’s not a privilege. Every teacher should be entitled to a gadget. To start with.
Because if you look at everything now: E-registration, E-certificate, E-result, E-this and that. True. That now brings us back to: are our teachers skilled enough in this aspect?
There should be a deliberate plan by the government to do right by the teachers. Sometimes it’s because we don’t have a voice.
In Nigeria, education should be first. Very true. Because a sound mind does not commit crime.
I read something about Plato, those who authored education. They say that when you want to build an ideal society, first build ideal people. If you have ideal people, you have an ideal society.
So if your education is quality, every product will be a quality product, including human capacity. And it has to start from the grassroots. They are fundamental: the primary school. It has to start from the foundation.
See, we might talk and talk and talk, but those who will do this thing, are they listening? Are they ready? See, if Nigeria is ready, if you say “On your mark,” at the point of “Go,” Nigeria will overtake so many countries. We have the potential for growth.
One of it is our education. If the government is sincere about education, we will go far. Let me tell you: any government that embraces education genuinely does not need to campaign.