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June 08, (THEWILL) – In the heart of Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory, where gleaming new flyovers stretch across freshly tarred roads and ribbon-cutting ceremonies mark another infrastructure milestone, over 200,000 primary school children have been locked out of their classrooms for more than three months. The irony is stark and deeply troubling: whilst bulldozers work overtime to build Abuja’s physical landscape, the nation’s future builders sit idle at home, their education indefinitely suspended.
The prolonged strike by public primary school teachers in the FCT, which began in earnest on March 24, 2025, has exposed a fundamental contradiction in Nigeria’s development approach. As the FCT Minister Nyesom Wike’s administration celebrates the completion of yet another road project, thousands of pupils have missed their second-term examinations entirely and the third term hangs in the balance. The dispute centres on something as basic as it is scandalous: teachers have not received the ₦70,000 minimum wage that was approved months ago alongside other arrears rightly due them.
What makes this situation particularly galling is not just its duration, but the apparent ease with which billions of naira are found for concrete and steel whilst teachers’ salaries and arrears remain unpaid.
Meanwhile, construction crews continue their work on visible projects that will undoubtedly feature in the next round of government publicity photographs whilst the area council chairmen and FCT Minister trade blames over where the buck stops.
Yet, the contrast could hardly be more pronounced. In affluent areas like Maitama and Guzape, private schools hum with activity, their well-appointed classrooms filled with children whose parents can afford fees that often exceed many civil servants’ monthly salaries. Yet in the same territory, public schools serving the children of the less privileged and lower-grade civil servants remain shuttered, their playgrounds silent and their libraries gathering dust.
This tale of two education systems reveals something deeply unsettling about priorities in Nigeria’s seat of power. The FCT is the place in Nigeria where there is zero subsidy for WAEC and NECO examination fees, forcing parents to choose between feeding their families and paying the ₦75,000 required for their children’s examinations. For many families already struggling with Nigeria’s economic pressures, this represents an impossible choice.
The educational crisis extends far beyond the immediate inconvenience of closed schools. Nigeria already bears the shameful distinction of having one of the world’s highest number of out-of-school children, with over 17 million young people denied access to education. The FCT’s contribution to this statistic is particularly damaging because of its symbolic importance as the nation’s capital. When the seat of government cannot keep its own schools open, what message does this send about national priorities?
The learning poverty statistics paint an even grimmer picture. Recent assessments reveal that 92 per cent of pupils in Nigeria’s public primary schools suffer from learning deprivation, unable to read and understand simple texts appropriate for their age. In a country where 70 percent of 10-year-olds cannot comprehend basic written material, every day of lost schooling represents a step backward in an already desperate situation.
The human cost of this educational neglect is immeasurable. Children who should be developing critical thinking skills are instead learning harsh lessons about governmental indifference. Teachers, the backbone of any education system, are receiving clear signals that their profession is undervalued and their welfare secondary to more photogenic government activities. The message is unmistakable: if you work in education, your contribution to nation-building is less important than those who pour concrete and cut ribbons.
This situation becomes even more troubling when viewed against Nigeria’s budget allocations. The education sector receives a mere 7.3 per cent of the national budget, far below the 15-20 per cent recommended by UNESCO for developing countries. The highest allocation in the past decade was just 10.7 per cent, whilst the lowest, recorded in 2021, was a paltry 5.6 per cent. These figures represent a systematic undervaluation of education that has persisted across different administrations.
The minister responsible for the FCT has built a reputation around infrastructure development, and indeed, Abuja’s roads and buildings have improved markedly under his tenure. However, this focus on visible achievements appears to have come at the expense of less glamorous but equally vital public services.
Education and healthcare require sustained, behind-the-scenes effort that rarely generates newspaper headlines or social media applause, yet these sectors form the foundation upon which all other development must rest.
The economic implications of educational neglect are already visible across Nigeria. Youth unemployment rates above 60 per cent reflect, in part, the failure to provide young people with relevant skills and knowledge. High inflation and modest economic growth compound these challenges, creating a cycle where poor education leads to limited economic opportunities, which in turn constrains resources available for educational improvement.
What makes the FCT situation particularly tragic is that solutions exist and have been tested elsewhere. Technology platforms like the Nigeria Learning Passport, developed with UNICEF support, offer innovative ways to reach children even during disruptions. School feeding programmes have demonstrated remarkable success, with Osun State recording over 78 per cent increases in enrolment where such initiatives operate effectively.
Still, such technological and programmatic solutions cannot substitute for the basic requirement that schools must be open and teachers must be present and motivated. The most sophisticated digital learning platform becomes irrelevant when teachers are on indefinite strike over unpaid wages. The finest school feeding programme cannot operate when school gates remain locked.
The broader implications of this crisis extend well beyond the FCT’s boundaries. Nigeria’s ambition to become a major economic power in Africa rings hollow when its capital territory and area council chairmen cannot resolve a teachers’ strike lasting several months. International observers and potential investors take note when a country’s seat of government demonstrates such dysfunction in basic service delivery.
The irony deepens when one considers that the infrastructure projects receiving such attention will ultimately require educated citizens to utilise and maintain them effectively. Roads and bridges are only as valuable as the human capital available to make productive use of them. A nation that builds gleaming highways whilst allowing its schools to crumble is constructing monuments to its own short-sightedness.
The path forward requires more than simply paying teachers their overdue wages, though this represents the immediate priority. The FCT administration must fundamentally reassess its approach to development, recognising that human capital formation deserves equal attention with physical infrastructure. This means not only adequate funding for education but also transparent and timely disbursement of allocated resources.
The ongoing strike serves as a sobering reminder that true development cannot be measured solely in kilometres of new roads or numbers of completed buildings. A capital territory that fails its children fails its fundamental purpose. The over 200,000 pupils currently denied their right to education represent Nigeria’s future doctors, engineers, teachers, and leaders. Their classroom doors in over the 550 primary schools must reopen not just for their sake, but for the nation’s survival and prosperity.
Until education receives the priority it deserves, Nigeria’s development will remain as unbalanced as a building constructed without proper foundations. To the Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike, I implore you to act fast. The time for choosing between roads and schools has passed; both are essential and both deserve urgent attention from leaders who understand that a nation’s greatest infrastructure lies not in its highways, but in the minds of its children.
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