FCT minister Nyesom Wike will meet with chairpersons of FCT area councils and leadership of the Nigeria Union of Teachers and National Association of Nigerian Students on Thursday.

The meeting, according to a statement by NANS on Wednesday, is to finalise modalities for the reopening of all public primary schools in the FCT.

The statement was signed by NANS national president Olushola Oladoja and spokesman Adeyemi Ajasa.

The association explained that it had earlier resolved to stage a mass protest on Wednesday morning at the Federal Capital Territory Administration secretariat.

It added that its leadership was invited to a high-level engagement at the State Security Service headquarters, where the issues at hand were thoroughly discussed in the interest of national security and students’ welfare.

It stated that the first meeting at the SSS paved the way for a second strategic meeting with Muktar Betara, the chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on FCT.

NANS said the engagement revealed the root causes of the ongoing industrial action by the NUT and the efforts made thus far by the Wike-led FCTA.

It added that a third meeting was held with Wike on Tuesday, where the minister explained the issues at hand.

“In a show of responsibility and commitment to resolving the crisis, Wike intervened by proposing a bailout, with FCTA offering to pay 60 per cent of the outstanding arrears while the area councils cover the remaining 40 per cent.

“When it became clear that this arrangement was not yielding desired results, the FCT minister withheld the internally generated revenue of the area councils for the months of May and June, with a plan to utilise these funds to make up the 40 per cent requested of the area council to clear the outstanding arrears owed to teachers.

“That based on this intervention, it was expected that the two-month arrears withheld be ready before the end of the week,” it said.

The association stated that, based on the productive engagements and emerging progress, it hereby suspends the planned protest while keeping a close eye on the implementation of all resolutions reached.

“We reaffirm our commitment to defending the rights of Nigerian students and ensuring that no child is denied access to education due to governmental lapses,” the statement said. 

(NAN)