FCT NUT storm FCTA secretariat, protest against LG autonomy

Over 400 teachers, under the aegis of Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) FCT chapter, on Monday, stormed the Secretariat of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) in protest, demanding to be left out of the planned Local Government autonomy, stating that such move is not to their interest.

Chairman, NUT FCT chapter, Comrade Knabayi Stephen, who addressed the protesting teachers at the main entrance of the Secretariat, reiterated their decision to be left out of the Local Government autonomy, saying it was a common position of the NUT national executive council (NEC) taken at its meeting held on April24, 2017 in Kaduna State.

He said: “This has become imperative as the Supreme Court of Nigeria in its 2002 judgment, in the case of AG Federation Vs AG of the 36 States held that the responsibility of providing and managing primary education in the country obviously lies with the State Government.

“Against this background, the National Executive Council of the Nigeria Union of Teachers has re-directed all its state wings including that of the Federal Capital Territory to carry out a solidarity rally rejecting the so called autonomy.”

Providing more reasons for NUT decision not to be part of LG autonomy, Knabayi said: “It would be recalled that between 1990 and 1994 when Primary Education came under the control of the Local Government, the school system witnessed poor funding and total neglect which led to industrial crises because the LG Councils failed to primary education the priority of place it deserved”.

He further regretted that “despite an increase in allocation to the Local Government Councils from the Federation Account by 5 percent to enable the Councils play their participatory role in assisting the state Governments to pay salaries of primary school teachers, the teachers were denied salaries for several months, in some cases for over 12 months”.

Another propelling factor for opting out of the autonomy, according to Knabayi is the “failure by the LG Councils to contribute their mandatory 15 percent of the teachers’ emolument to the pension fund meant for the payment of the teachers’ pension and gratuities”, thereby “allowing the school system to deteriorate to the state of dysfunction and near collapse”.

Explaining that “in a bid to address the deplorable situation, the Federal Government has established national primary education committee (NPEC) and effected payment of the salaries of teachers through the Commission from education, as first line charge, from the Federation Account”, he noted that “the development brought stability to the system but could not stand the test of time”.

However, the NUT FCT chair stated that the NUT was “not totally against Local Government autonomy if that is what Nigerians believe would bring development to all nooks and crannies of the country, saying that the “Union is concerned about the likelihood of scrapping the state Joint Local Government Account which would mean taking primary education back to the dark pre-1994 era”.

He decried a situation where “primary school teachers were currently been owed salaries for months in a number of states ostensibly due to the inability of the Councils to provide the funds needed for payment of the salaries, thereby creating a situation of demoralization and hopelessness amongst the teachers”.

The NUT Chairman commended the FCT Administration under Malam Muhammad Musa Bello for giving priority attention to education and the many achievements the sector has recorded so far.

Director, Office of the Permanent Secretary, Mr. Udoh Samuel Atang, who addressed the teachers on behalf of the Administration, commended them for a peaceful protest and promised to relay their demands to the appropriate quarters, expressing hope that they would be positively looked into.

The FCT Administration is one of the few state governments in the country where funds for primary education management are given directly to them, through its Universal Basic Education, without recourse to the Area Councils.