• Aisha Yesufu has urged Nyesom Wike to intervene in the ongoing FCT teachers’ strike which began on Monday, April 20, 2026.
• The teachers are protesting unresolved welfare issues, delayed promotions, and unpaid entitlements
• Aisha said teachers have been “pushed to the wall” by government inaction and warned that schoolchildren would be the biggest victims of a prolonged strike

Nigerian political activist and businesswoman, Aisha Yesufu, has called on the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, to step into the growing teachers’ strike in Abuja, warning that delays in addressing the crisis could seriously damage basic education across the territory.

The Nigeria Union of Teachers, FCT Wing, began an indefinite strike on Monday, April 20, 2026, over unresolved welfare concerns, delayed promotions, and the failure to implement a committee report that has remained untouched since August 2025.

Reacting in a statement posted on her X account on Monday, Yesufu said the situation should never have been allowed to reach this stage.

“Enough is enough. When teachers lay down their tools, it is never because they want to. It is because they have been pushed to the wall,” she said.

According to her, the strike is not just another labour dispute but a direct threat to the future of children in the FCT.

“And when teachers are pushed to the wall, what suffers first is not government pride, it is the future of children,” she added.

Yesufu said reports from the union suggest that a committee set up in July 2025 to look into teachers’ entitlements had already completed its assignment and submitted its findings in August, yet the report has neither been released nor implemented.

She described the situation as deeply troubling, noting that teachers are still battling unpaid entitlements and frustrating delays in career progression.

“They are saying entitlements remain unresolved. They are saying promotions are being trapped in bureaucracy that makes no sense in a system that claims to value education,” she stated.

The activist stressed that the real burden of the strike would fall on children rather than government officials.

“Let it be clear. When classrooms are shut, it is not government officials who feel it first. It is the child in Primary 1 trying to learn how to read,” she said.

“It is the girl who dreams of becoming a doctor. It is the boy who sees education as his only ladder out of poverty.”

Directly addressing Wike, Yesufu said leadership requires urgent intervention, especially when critical systems are on the verge of collapse.

“Mr Nyesom Wike, leadership is not about silence when systems are breaking. Leadership is about stepping in before collapse becomes reality,” she said.

She urged the FCT Administration to immediately release the committee report, settle outstanding entitlements, and resolve the bottlenecks affecting teachers’ promotions.

“Release the report. Implement what has been agreed. Fix the promotion bottlenecks. End the cycle of avoidable industrial crises that always end with the child as the victim,” she said.

The strike began after an emergency meeting of the union’s State Wing Executive Council in Gwagwalada, where teachers across the six area councils were directed to withdraw their services indefinitely.

Among the union’s key demands are the release and implementation of the harmonisation committee report, payment of outstanding entitlements, and solutions to lingering promotion and welfare concerns.

Although the FCT Administration had earlier intervened by implementing the N70,000 minimum wage and paying part of the arrears owed to teachers, unresolved issues surrounding welfare and career growth have continued to fuel tensions.

Yesufu warned that prolonged silence from authorities could further weaken public confidence in the education system.

“Because what is the value of governance if the classroom is empty? What is the meaning of authority if children are the ones paying the price for unresolved administrative delays?” she asked.

She ended with a strong appeal for immediate action.

FG/ASUU deal: UNILAG lecturers begin strike over ‘amputated’ salaries

Meanwhile, TheRadar earlier reported that lecturers at the University of Lagos had begun an indefinite strike, withdrawing their services in protest against what they described as incomplete salary payments for January and February 2026.

The decision was announced by the Chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), UNILAG chapter, Prof. Idou Keinde, who said the action followed a resolution reached during a union congress held on Tuesday, March 10.

According to Keinde, the lecturers resolved to suspend academic activities until the university pays their salaries in full in line with the 2025 agreement between the Federal Government and ASUU, which took effect on January 1, 2026.