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00:00:08of
00:00:22of
00:00:30Tonight, the nation's capital remains as a stand still as the FCC workers
00:00:34strike enters a critical phase, living public services
00:00:38paralized and thousands of residents stranded from lock
00:00:41secretarial gates to deserted public offices. The enforcement of this
00:00:45industrial action has been
00:00:48of absolute. of
00:01:09Hello and welcome to dateline abouja, I am Benny Auck. The reapple effects
00:01:13have been felt across all six area counters, public schools are shot,
00:01:17administrative services are completely frozen and primary healthcare
00:01:21centers a ton and away patients, boy city that drives the
00:01:24administrative engine
00:01:25of the country. This total shut down raises agent questions
00:01:29about. finance, crisis management and the
00:01:32of breaking point
00:01:36of of the Nigerian walker, but first, what are the stories making the headlines in the nation's capital? on Thursday,
00:01:40October the 8th, the independent National Electoral Commission commence the
00:01:44distribution of permanent voter cards. The chairman
00:01:48of of the Commission, Professor Jua Shapiton stated this a strategic engagement
00:01:51meeting with news editors in Abuza. I'm using this high
00:01:55level forum of editors to officially remind
00:01:59of the Nigerian public.
00:02:00of that the nationwide collection of pvc will commence
00:02:04exactly in four days time friday 9th
00:02:08October 2026. we have
00:02:11completed the processing and distribution
00:02:14of the first PBS
00:02:16of the
00:02:17phase one PBS to all the local government centers
00:02:20of appeal to
00:02:21the of editors and all media is executive present to leverage
00:02:25on
00:02:26of your platform to
00:02:27of inform the citizens explain the collection.
00:02:30of members
00:02:31of the senior staff association of Nigerian Universities have issued a
00:02:35fresh 14-day ultimatum for the federal government to release and
00:02:39pay all existing salaries and areas as contained in the
00:02:432026
00:02:44of agreement with the federal
00:02:46of government. of The President
00:02:47of the Association, Mr. Muhammad Ibrahim stated this a news
00:02:51of conference in Abuja where he read the resolutions
00:02:54of the Sanu's National Executive Council meeting.
00:02:58Neck in session after ex deliberations on the
00:03:02continued non-release of funds for the implementation
00:03:05of the 2026 FGN Sanu agreement,
00:03:08hereby issued a 14 days ultimatum to the federal
00:03:13of government to
00:03:14of release the required funds
00:03:15a and ensure the full payment of all outstanding contter
00:03:19areas. Next
00:03:21of stress that members have waited sufficiently
00:03:24of for the benefits of
00:03:25of an agreement already concluded and therefore demanded immediate and
00:03:29full compliance. within the stipulated
00:03:32a periods, failure by
00:03:33of the federal government to meet this demand within
00:03:36of 14 days from today, it will compel the union
00:03:40to resume total, comprehensive and
00:03:44indefinite strike without further notice. The Nigerian Union of
00:03:47Teachers is asking
00:03:49of government at all levels to prioritize the security of schools across the country
00:03:53to mark the 2026 World Teachers Day. No
00:03:57teachers should have to work in fear. the increasing in
00:04:00security, the increasing security challenges confronting schools in some parts of
00:04:04Nigeria constitute a serious threat to education, we call on
00:04:08government at all level to strengthen the security of schools, teachers and
00:04:12learners and to make safety of school a permanent
00:04:16component of education. President
00:04:18of Bolatinu declared three days of national morning for Nigerian air force
00:04:22personnel who died in Monday's military aircraft crash in
00:04:26Undo
00:04:26of State,
00:04:27in a
00:04:28of statement of from the president's special advisor on information and
00:04:31strategy, Mr. Bayor Nanuga. The President also directed
00:04:35that flags be flown at half-mast
00:04:38of across the country, as a mark of respect for the deceased officers,
00:04:42while directing the Nigerian Air Force to immediately investigate the cause
00:04:45of the crash. The Nigerian Air Force ATR-42
00:04:49aircraft crashed near a narval base in the Ibukoda area of
00:04:53Undo State while a routine mission from Benin Ed
00:04:56State to Lagos. The aircraft had 25. passengers
00:05:00and seven crew members on
00:05:02of board. the federal government says Nigeria risks the
00:05:05previous unsustainable regime of fuel scarcity,
00:05:09inflation, gradual economic collapse, printing of
00:05:13and global downgrade by international agencies if
00:05:16subsidy is returned. the minister of finance and coordinating
00:05:20minister the economy, professor, stated
00:05:24this during media briefing in Abuja, a subsidy must be
00:05:27financed through salaries and pensions not
00:05:31paid on time, through higher taxes or through
00:05:35the printing of money like we saw before this current
00:05:38administration, over 30 trillion was sp.
00:05:43removing subsidy has never meant doing
00:05:46nothing,
00:05:48over the past three years the government has acted to moderate
00:05:51prices in ways that are
00:05:54sustainable: one, local
00:05:57refining, and somebody will say, but it wasn't government that
00:06:00built it, and I will say yes, that's correct, but
00:06:04deregulation made domestic refining
00:06:07viable, that is why supply has held,
00:06:11why other countries. for scarse
00:06:13cargos. Vice President Kashim Shetima says a new bill is
00:06:17being pushed forward to instill strict accountability and shield the
00:06:21nutrition budgets from future courts. He stated this during the
00:06:25Nigeria Ethiopia Nutrition Leadership Exchange Forum in Addis
00:06:29Ababa, Ethiopia. Nigeria's 26 million
00:06:32dollars commitment to the Chiland Nutrition pond attracted matching
00:06:36ground and looking $52 million dollars and
00:06:40since 2023. which one states have contributed
00:06:446.3 million dollars for supplies preventing and
00:06:47treating malnutrition. our nutrition financing subcommittee
00:06:51seks domestic resources. the proposed presidential nutrition
00:06:55investment pond will provide catalytic
00:06:58financing. we can only claim that our
00:07:01budget fulfills its purpose when it nourishes a child. this
00:07:05is why Nigeria is strengthening the system that connect public
00:07:09spending to measurable outcomes through local scorecards. The
00:07:12Independent National Electoral Commission has commenced the 100 day
00:07:16countdown to the 2027 General Election with an
00:07:20appeal for the release of outstanding funds for the general
00:07:23election. The INEC chairman made the appeal at the
00:07:27stakeholders conference in Abuja. Contracts have been
00:07:31awarded and production is advanced for
00:07:3457,000
00:07:36new beavers devices, additional voting cubicules
00:07:39and ballot boxes. some the newly
00:07:43acquired beavers have been delivered,
00:07:46upgrades to critical ICT applications and core
00:07:50infrastructures are being implemented. some states have started
00:07:54receiving some non-sensitive materials ahead the
00:07:57election.
00:08:03at the heart the FCT labor dispute a unresolved welfare
00:08:06demands, outstanding allowances and the implementation of newly approved
00:08:10minimum wage adjustments. the This is the highlight of FCT in
00:08:14focus.
00:08:21Abuja, the glittering hot beat of Nigeria's administrative power, but
00:08:25beneath the polish asphalt the capital city lies simiring
00:08:28structural crisis. On Wednesday, October 7,
00:08:312026, the engine room the nation's capital ground to a
00:08:35halt. Members the FCT Council the Nigerian Labor Congress
00:08:39imbacked on an indefinite industrial action. These. was the expiration of
00:08:43seven-day ultimatum issued to the FCT administration by the council over
00:08:47the teachers promotion policy the administration. the policy
00:08:51governed by the FCT civil service commission and FCTA guidelines
00:08:55state that teachers are evaluated based on three primary
00:08:58criteria, a minimum number of years and service, a
00:09:01minimum cut of mark on examinations and the availability of
00:09:05vacancies. we call the attention to it, but nothing was done, and before we
00:09:09know it, they gave us a 22.5%
00:09:13success rate and we know that we are not dones in
00:09:17the FCT and we know that this is not what should be, so it's
00:09:21part of our agitation. teachers in the federal
00:09:25capital territory have been involved in recurring industrial actions
00:09:28especially in recent times. some the points of grivances
00:09:32include unpaid salaries, minimum wage areers, career
00:09:36stagnation and welfare issues. a timeline the strikes
00:09:39include in late 2024, teachers launch a strike
00:09:43lasting about three weeks over area council non-payment of salary
00:09:47arrays and minimum wage dispute. in the second quarter of
00:09:512025, major three to four month indefinite strike,
00:09:55shut down public primary schools demanding payment of nine months of minimum
00:09:59wage areas among others. the teachers also embacked on strike
00:10:02between march and april this year over on resolve promotion and
00:10:06entitlement to
00:10:07demand. the
00:10:10fct minister eventually inter which led to the suspension the
00:10:14strike,
00:10:16this continuous
00:10:20strikes, it really affects our
00:10:23children. but
00:10:28that being what are
00:10:29be known intervention as far as the
00:10:32concerns the payment of
00:10:36allowances of salaries
00:10:39to
00:10:41the the which is
00:10:44responsibility
00:10:47the areal councils probably I will
00:10:51have a more information information.
00:10:55if the leader of
00:10:57delegation or let me start
00:11:01with so
00:11:02i will no where we are and what are the
00:11:05issues now because i know we
00:11:08have met somebody we have met with the honorable minister of
00:11:11fct to put before
00:11:15him the problem that has the devilled the teachers of
00:11:19fct both at the primary school level, the junior secondary school
00:11:23level and senior secondary school level. In
00:11:26fact, we had very, very fruitful discussions with the honorable
00:11:30minister on the issues we have tableed before
00:11:33him, and we want to appreciate
00:11:36him for his giant stride in FCT, he is into
00:11:40renovating and restructuring some of our
00:11:43schools, that is
00:11:46pathway, the rights of
00:11:50our members are been discussed and been
00:11:54settled. "the only
00:11:58area where we have greater problems is the area the primary
00:12:02school teachers where their rises
00:12:05entitlements have
00:12:08shortcoming,
00:12:10but with our meeting of
00:12:13today we are going to make
00:12:16headway and our counterparts at the print school
00:12:20level will equally feel the impact the
00:12:24government." "we are not going to talk too
00:12:27much, we have seen
00:12:29him, we will have to go back to our house,
00:12:33sit down, look
00:12:37at what we have discussed with him and know the
00:12:41last line of actions. in the latest industrial action,
00:12:45the FCT council the Nigerian Labor Congress is in solidarity with the
00:12:48teachers, they are demanding the following: abolition the
00:12:52vacancy precondition for teachers promotions. reconsideration of
00:12:56eligible 2025 candidates to sit for examinations alongside the
00:13:002026 bch. For now, the NLC is directing this
00:13:03enforcement committee to ensure strike compliance across the nation's
00:13:07capital. The minister the federal capital territory, yes on wike has
00:13:11dismissed the indefinite teachers and work a strike as unnecessary and
00:13:15politically motivated, following a meeting with the six area council
00:13:18chairman. Wik asserted at all previously agreed demands regarding
00:13:22promotions and welfare already being. commented accusing
00:13:26union leaders of politicizing labor disputes to create crisis in the
00:13:30capital, the minister directed the council chairman to strictly
00:13:33enforce no walk, no pay policy for all participating
00:13:37walkers, want to st categorical to
00:13:41the
00:13:41politics
00:13:50accept a accepted
00:13:52because
00:14:56that teacher has listen, if anybody go does
00:15:00this, wemplement, no work, no
00:15:03pay, enough is enough, you
00:15:06can continue what they
00:15:06say,
00:17:15Welcome back, as the MCT navigates a critical period marked by
00:17:19intense conversations around the teacher welfare, union independence and
00:17:23educational stability, members the academic staff union of
00:17:27secondary schools have taken a definitive stance on keeping secondary
00:17:31classrooms open while aggressively pursuing diplomatic
00:17:34resolutions for its members, my guest is a spokes person the
00:17:38union comrade ebank
00:17:40Johnson.
00:17:46comerade ibiank siril Johnson, thank you for joining us on dateline abuja. i
00:17:50think the best place to begin this conversation would be on the ongoing indefinite
00:17:54strike as um expressed by NUT.
00:17:58now what is your association distance in itself from this
00:18:02ongoing indefinite strike? thank you very much for
00:18:05having me on the studio. um, first of all, I want
00:18:09to believe that - unionism is
00:18:13voluntary and the as much as I
00:18:16know, Asus is
00:18:19affiliate body with
00:18:22TUC, Trade Union Congress
00:18:24and um, AUT happened to
00:18:28be affiliate body of um NLC, and
00:18:32so we are two distinct uh union bodies
00:18:36and situation where a strike is
00:18:39declared, we look it as
00:18:42inappropriate buse, it's been wrong time, wrongly
00:18:46timed, and um, we refuse to
00:18:50embark on it because the conditions for which this
00:18:53strike was declared, so we we see
00:18:57no reason to be part of it, because we are asus, they are
00:19:01nut, and majorly, let me put it clearly,
00:19:05though unionism is voluntarily, you know, but
00:19:09that our members or some of our some the teachers, secondary school
00:19:12teachers are members of NUT does not mean
00:19:16that at every point in time strike is declared, without consulting
00:19:19us, we just join you when we have no
00:19:23reasons to join the strike, that is the reason ASUS is not part
00:19:26the strike, but but there's a major concern here,
00:19:30mean you asking teachers to ignore the directive of
00:19:33NUT to work, no, but
00:19:36what if teacher chooses to obey? instead, what exactly is ASUS
00:19:39prepared to do to protect the that teacher from any disciplinary or
00:19:43industrial action that they might be sanctioned with? they have their
00:19:47members, we have our members, we are only concerned about our
00:19:50members, asus members are not allowed to join the strike,
00:19:54nut members can go ahead if they so wish, but we see no
00:19:58reason for the strike, and that is why we ask our members, not
00:20:01every teacher, whoever is member of NUT, good and fine, you
00:20:05go ahead, so candy are you saying asus
00:20:09does not see any point for FCT teachers being part
00:20:13of this industrial action by NUT
00:20:16at
00:20:18all right let's go to all the issues now while you guys oppose
00:20:21the the strike the NUT's demand focus on critical
00:20:25welfare, I mean I believe you're aware of that about concerns like the
00:20:2825%, 35% and also 40% salary
00:20:32increment and this is specular allowances. now what
00:20:36is the union strategy for? securing these exact financial adjustments from the
00:20:40FCT administration without resorting to school courses?
00:20:43well, to be very specific, these were not the
00:20:47initial conditions for which the strike were the... and let me make
00:20:51it open to you right now, the strike were was
00:20:54declared based on vacancy uh,
00:20:57you know, precondition for promotion, um,
00:21:01secondly was the
00:21:022025
00:21:05disrupted staff education officers promotion
00:21:09examination, and thirdly is on redeployment,
00:21:12stroke demotion of senior or
00:21:16administrative officers, which we see no reason, let me... begin
00:21:20with the redeployment, it was not the motion, the
00:21:24FCT management have every prerogative to redeploy staff as at
00:21:28when due, all right, and that is soly an
00:21:30administrative uh issue, it doesn't
00:21:34actually call for strike, there was no demotion, every one
00:21:38the directors is still maintaining their status, not even their salaries have been
00:21:42reduced, so there was no point
00:21:45if the management deem it fit to redeploy, it's a pr':
00:21:50negative and then talking about the vacancy issue, you and
00:21:54i knows that as far as civil service is
00:21:57concerned, initially before the advent of
00:22:01um the civil service commission fct, we're under
00:22:04federal, and the position of vacancy has
00:22:08been part of it, is a rule, it's a gazzetted policy, it's an
00:22:12established policy that if you don't mention vacancy
00:22:16in public service rules then you mean i mean, there is nothing like
00:22:20public service rule, yes, but but the nuc, let me let me let me interject there, but the nuc
00:22:24and TU say, yes, the NUT and NLC did say that that
00:22:28vacancy requirement is unfairly stagnating
00:22:32teachers, that was the argument, and
00:22:35also asu says the requirement is back by the public service rules,
00:22:39which specific rule are you actually with relying on? okay,
00:22:43now if you want government to
00:22:46probably remove a particular policy, that has been
00:22:50gazetted, it's not by cohesion, it's not by giving government ultimatum,
00:22:54in the first place they are your employer, so you if you must
00:22:58dialogue with them, and the method with which NUT is demanding
00:23:02for this, shouldn't go by
00:23:04you know legitimate dialogue, it shouldn't be a thing where at every point in
00:23:08time they use the weapon of strike, it's an old method, it's an old
00:23:12fashion, now even if you go by ilo convention
00:23:16parameters, you don't see strike there, you understand
00:23:19what i saying, we have modern
00:23:22scientific method with which you can handle issues and they
00:23:26can be resolved with government, you don't coas government because they are your
00:23:30employee in the first place, and so what we are saying is that let there be
00:23:34legitimate dialogue, we are not against that, we are doing that, and now let me point
00:23:38out something for vacancies you know to lose their relevance as
00:23:42far as public service uh rules are concern or civil public civil
00:23:46service is concerned, teachers shouldn't be stagnated,
00:23:51by the positions of
00:23:53directorship, we you know
00:23:57advocates and agitated as well as
00:24:01appealing to government that they come up with
00:24:04nomenclatures for level 15, level
00:24:0816 and level 17, let the directorate cader be
00:24:11silenced at those pools when everyone
00:24:15is promoted to the because level 17, level 16, level 15 are ranks, the
00:24:19civil ranks: yeah, but the argument, yes, but the argument is, you will
00:24:23agree with me that teachers are different from ordinary pool servants,
00:24:27good, because they employed specifically to teach, to teach, yes,
00:24:31and that is why we are saying, then let the directorship be
00:24:34silenced, when teachers when they create room for nomenclatures, just
00:24:38like level 14 is chief executing officer, if you give such nomenclatures
00:24:42for level 15, 16, 17, it gives opportunity for vacancy for
00:24:46everyone to be promoted there, whether they are 5,000 as the case may be,
00:24:50they got promoted to that level and then you can now with any criteria
00:24:54the government so them fit get them appointed if education needs
00:24:5820 directors from there you can now get by the criteria you so
00:25:01choose appoint directors appoint deputy directors
00:25:05appoint uh assistant directors and then any point in time a
00:25:08director is retiring you don't need to wait for the next promotion where you look
00:25:12for acting directors no simply go back to that and so are you say is your
00:25:16association prepared to sit down with NUT and NLC today? for you
00:25:20guys to jointly examine the disputed issues rather than having
00:25:24competing directors to be very frank with youif if they invite us a
00:25:28round table we must have the consent from our mother body
00:25:32tuc if they so wish for us to come a round table why
00:25:35not but that must be done through our national body
00:25:39TUC because even what is going on here they never consulted never
00:25:43consult our national body our umbrella body our mother body
00:25:46tuc they never they were not consulted and that was why if if you follow up and
00:25:50you discover
00:25:51that there was a communike issued by TUC for every TUC
00:25:54affiliate body to go about their lawful
00:25:57duties. Your association has repeatedly said students should not
00:26:01suffer because of... industrial dispute, sure, but with this division going
00:26:05on right now, don't you think this will create some confusion and instability in schools
00:26:09and it should be called to order, issue down their swords and
00:26:13approach issues you know with
00:26:16legal grounds, what they are doing, we don't
00:26:20know their motive, but we are saying if
00:26:24they have realized that they took a wrong step by stopping,
00:26:28now government called you to come and write a promotion exam that you are due and you ask your
00:26:32member, has not to, it has affected even our members and we have not resolved that
00:26:36completely, because as we speak now, majority of education officers
00:26:39including assos and their own nut members have lost
00:26:43one year, now if we must like approval has given now,
00:26:47if we must go to write that examination, which i believe they are
00:26:50disguising to stop that particular examination for 2026, that is
00:26:54why they are calling for strike, not necessarily because they so
00:26:58wish you know to use the preconditions, but it's like they
00:27:02don't have proper legal advisor given your stance that strikes
00:27:05harm students, what is your message to FCT parents and students who
00:27:09find themselves caught in the middle of this competiting? thank you very
00:27:13much, i would want to call on every key education
00:27:16stakeholders as far as well as the general public, parent and
00:27:20student particularly, you see we were a you know uh
00:27:24monitoring though this morning some schools and some principals who
00:27:28knows their duties were in office, they were in office, but you see,
00:27:32most uh of us in this part the world take advantage of certain
00:27:36opportunities or circumstances like this, and so even when assu says we are
00:27:40not on strike, majority may take advantage not to go to work. i
00:27:44want to advise the general public, parent, keyholders,
00:27:47keys stakeholders and the major education
00:27:51key stakeholders to
00:27:54you know provide security to schools, let parents allow
00:27:57their children to come to school and let student come to school and
00:28:01stay, academic staff union uh
00:28:05of secondary school members or teachers are
00:28:09ready to come into the class and teach and let all schools be
00:28:13left open by principals right? principals also should not
00:28:17allow nyut to intimidate them because they go about
00:28:20pursuing the student a parent drop a child at school
00:28:24and goes to work and you now come to push this the child out
00:28:28the class what is the security guarantee of that child?
00:28:32All right, comeradeel Johnson, the public relation officer at the
00:28:36academic staff union of secondary school's FCT Chapter, thank you
00:28:40very much for joining us in the program, thank you, it's my pleasure
00:28:42once,
00:28:47there's a perspective the secondary school teachers in the FCT who are not
00:28:51aligning with their comrade on the FCT teachers tubaco, please
00:28:55let us know what you think about this views on the social media handles showing on your
00:28:58screen, also let us know what is happening in your neighborhood, use in the
00:29:02handles, thank you for watching and see you next time, I am Benny
00:29:06Ak.
00:29:16at eyewitness.channelstv.com, news doesn't
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00:29:43news.
00:30:21Hello and welcome to eyewitness report, I am
00:30:25your me ortaigwe. On this edition the program, we
00:30:29return to the story the spa more fire. incident
00:30:33in kalaba Crossriver State with an update on
00:30:37the financial support being provided to victims the
00:30:40unfortunate incident. Also, the resurgence
00:30:44of coal mining in Enogu is raising questions
00:30:48about the balance between profit making and the
00:30:51responsibility to give back to host
00:30:54communities. It promises to be a revealing addition,
00:30:58so stay with us for the.