Abuja: VeryDarkMan stages protest against prolonged teachers’ strike, teaches kids at ministry’s gate
Martins Vincent Otse, known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), a prominent social media critic and activist, took to the streets on Monday, protesting the ongoing strike by primary school teachers in Abuja, which has now reached an alarming 90 days.
In a striking gesture outside the Ministry of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), VDM gathered schoolchildren dressed in their uniforms to conduct an open-air session, playfully teaching them the alphabet.
“S for Suegbe, T for Tinubu, W for Wike,” he chanted, with the children enthusiastically repeating after him.
According to reports, the strike, which began on March 24, 2025, stems from the failure of Area Council Chairmen to implement the new national minimum wage of ₦70,000. The prolonged action has resulted in students being out of public schools for over three months without a resolution in sight.
Bitrus Garki, Mandate Secretary of the Area Councils Services Secretariat, addressed the gathered crowd, noting that the primary issues lie with the FCT Area Councils, although the FCT Administration, led by Minister Nyesom Wike, is involved in mediation efforts.
“The FCT administration has been intervening in Area Council matters,” Garki explained. “This responsibility is largely the responsibility of the Area Councils. However, given our relationship with local government, we also intervene in various cases, including schools and infrastructure.”
While acknowledging the complexity of the situation, Garki could not provide a timeline for resolution but stressed that the administration was responding to the public’s concerns.
“I can’t stand here and say when it is going to end,” he admitted. “But I can tell you that the administration is working closely… and we have received your message loud and clear.”
Frustrated with the responses from the administration, VDM issued a seven-day ultimatum, warning that if no action was taken, a larger protest involving more schoolchildren from across the Territory would follow.
“We have decided to give them a week,” he stated. “If they don’t do anything and the children are not back in school, we will invite students from the whole FCT to come.”
VDM also voiced plans to address the strike by primary healthcare workers, who, like the teachers, have not received the new minimum wage. “Today is for the students,” he declared. “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.”
Source: LEADERSHIP
