Popular social media critic, Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, has staged a protest with primary school children at the entrance of the residence of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, in Abuja.
The protest follows Wike’s announcement of plans to withhold 10 per cent of the statutory allocation to area councils due to their failure to implement the new minimum wage for primary school teachers, an issue which has led to an ongoing strike.
On Monday, however, VDM gathered school children dressed in uniforms and conducted a class in which he taught them the letters of the alphabet.
“S for Suegbe, T for Tinubu, W for Wike,” VDM called out, while the children repeated.
According to him, Wike’s gate would henceforth serve as the pupils’ new classroom.
Addressing the protesters, the Mandate Secretary, Area Councils Services Secretariat, Bitrus Garki, explained that the issue was “largely the responsibility of the Area Councils,” noting however that the administration had intervened multiple times in attempts to end the indefinite strike.
“The FCT administration has been intervening in Area Council matters.
“This responsibility is largely the responsibility of the Area Councils.
“But because this is the state and we also have a relationship with the local government, that is why we come in to intervene in many cases, not just as regards to school, including infrastructure, and many other things.
“These are collaborative efforts, the local governments are duly elected and they are also a tier of government on their own,” Garki said.
Garki also gave assurance that the authorities will address the issue, stating that he however could not say exactly when the issue will be resolved.
“We have heard what you have said, and we have received you, but what I can guarantee you is that your message has been heard loud and clear, and the authorities will sit on this matter and see that it is addressed.
“As to when this will happen, because this is multi-faceted and involves stakeholders’ collaboration, which has been happening.
“I can’t stand here and say this is when it is going to end.
“But I can tell you that the administration is working closely, not just with the Area Councils, including the NUT, and also the NULGE and the NLC have been sitting on this matter to address it.
“Just to mention, recently, even the traditional institutions, the traditional rulers who are also within my office, have called in the union to discuss and dialogue this matter, and they have also referred their solutions to our desk, which we are also looking at to see that this matter is addressed,” the Secretary stated.
He called for patience, adding that the FCT Minister was doing everything to ensure that the area council chairmen do what they ought to do, to make sure schoolchildren returned to school.
In response, VDM issued a seven-day ultimatum to the administration, after which they would resume the strike to protest the primary school teachers’ strike.
He, however, said the protest will continue tomorrow, to demand an end to the ongoing strike by primary healthcare workers who had also been denied the payments of the N70,000 minimum wage.
VDM said: ”We have decided to give them a week.
“In the meantime, if they don’t do anything and the children are not back in school, we will have to come with more students.
“We will invite students from the whole FCT to come. So we are giving a week, and hopefully, we will get a positive result.
“On the issue of primary healthcare, I hope you people are still talking about that.
“If you are not, we will do primary healthcare tomorrow. Today is for the students.
“We are going to do for primary healthcare.
“It’s just for Wike to be seeing, we are not fighting him.
“Let him just see so that he will remember, maybe he has forgotten.
“He’s preparing for the 2027 election, but he has forgotten.
“He’s stressed; he nearly fell from the plane. He’s stressed. So we will give you one week.”
