Some schoolchildren in the Bwari Area Council of the FCT have appealed to striking teachers in the six-area council to consider their plight and call off their two-month industrial action.
The children made the appeal in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria on Tuesday, in Bwari, Abuja, while sharing their thoughts on the 2025 Children’s Day.
The Nigeria Union of Teachers and Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees in FCT had in March embarked strike due to non-payment of the N70,000 minimum wage.
Blessing Adamu, a 10-year-old primary four child at LEA 2, Primary School, Bwari, said that staying at home for more than two months without learning was a big disruption to their academic programmes.
She appealed to the FCT administration and the teachers to resolve their differences and call off the strike.
“I am not happy that I have been at home for this long.
“My friends in the private schools are going to school, and I am staying at home to help my mummy with her business and chores,” she said.
Another pupil, Jonah Mathias, said that he was now bored due to the duration of the strike, saying, “I am missing both physical and intellectual exercises in school.”
He also pleaded with the FCT administration and the NUT to end the action, considering the negative effects on their future.
Also, Esther Bwaya, another child affected by the strike, described the situation as `unfortunate and traumatising’, adding that they watched their peers in private schools go to school daily with a feeling of abandonment by the government.
“We appeal to the government to look into this matter as a special Children’s Day gift to FCT children because we really want to return to school,” she said.
Mrs Raabi Sumaila, a mother of five whose children are affected by the strike, appealed to the FCT administration to ensure the strike was over to save the children from further damage.
She noted that the strike not only affected public schools but also affected the primary healthcare centres, adding that the situation had brought untold hardship on the people.
“We are begging the FCT administration to put an end to this strike. We have suffered too much, our children are still at home, and we cannot have access to healthcare services at the health centres,’’ she lamented.
Mr Danladi Chiya, Chairman, Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) in FCT, appealed to the workers and members of the unions to consider the plight of the children and call off the strike.
