A fresh education crisis is unfolding in Nigeria’s capital, where public primary schools across the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have been shut indefinitely by a sweeping teachers’ strike, disrupting learning for thousands.
The Save Public Education Campaign (SPEC) has issued a blistering condemnation of authorities, calling the shutdown a “damning indictment” of the government’s chronic neglect of education and teachers’ welfare.
The strike, declared by the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) FCT wing, began on Monday, April 20, 2026, and has brought academic activities in public primary and secondary schools across all six area councils to a standstill. Classrooms remain locked, leaving students stranded at a critical point in the academic calendar.
While the NUT directive covers both primary and secondary schools, the Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools (ASUSS) has distanced itself from the action, creating a fragmented response within the education sector and raising concerns about coordination among teaching bodies.
At the heart of the dispute are long-standing grievances: the government’s failure to implement a 2025 committee report on teachers’ entitlements, unresolved salary adjustments of 25% and 35%, and a disputed 40% peculiar allowance. Union leaders insist these demands are not new—but represent commitments authorities have repeatedly failed to honor.
In a statement signed by its Co-Conveners, Vivian Bellown and Dimeji Macaulay, SPEC warned that the fallout is already severe.
“Thousands of children have been forced out of classrooms with no immediate solution in sight,” the group said, adding that the situation exposes a “persistent pattern of poor attention to education and teacher welfare.”
The group also linked the crisis to Nigeria’s broader education emergency, cautioning that prolonged school closures could worsen the country’s already staggering out-of-school children population—estimated at over 33 million, the highest globally.
“The continued shutdown of public schools will deepen inequality and undermine the future of the next generation,” the statement read. “Education is a fundamental right, and its disruption carries far-reaching consequences for society.”
Teachers, backed by SPEC, argue that deteriorating working conditions and unpaid entitlements have made effective teaching nearly impossible.
“Teachers cannot be expected to give their best under poor conditions while their basic rights are ignored,” the group stated.
The FCT Administration has urged striking teachers to return to classrooms, warning that the disruption could trigger mass failure among students preparing for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WAEC). But union leaders appear unmoved, escalating pressure with planned احتجاج protests at the FCT Secretariat.
Parents have been advised to keep children at home until further notice, as uncertainty deepens over when schools will reopen.
SPEC has called for urgent government intervention, demanding immediate implementation of agreements and a shift away from what it describes as a cycle of empty promises.
“The government must move beyond rhetoric and take concrete action,” the group said. “Enough is enough—fund public education, respect teachers’ rights, and reopen schools now.”
The current crisis echoes a similar shutdown in 2025, when primary school teachers embarked on a strike that lasted more than three months over unpaid wages and unimplemented minimum wage adjustments, raising fears that history may be repeating itself.
With no resolution in sight, Nigeria’s capital faces a growing education emergency, one that could have lasting consequences for a generation already on the brink.
