The Real Cost of Shutting Down Abuja’s Primary Schools: An Open Appeal to Minister of FCT, Wike 

Tijjani Mukaddas

Sir, Honourable Minister, if you read only one article today, let it be this. For more than three long months, every government‑run primary school in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has kept its gates locked. In those same ninety‑plus days, new flyovers have sprung up, tarmac has been laid, and ceremonial ribbons have been cut. Yet the most vital foundation of every society yet a child’s education has been left to crumble in silence. We celebrate concrete while we neglect conscience.

The closure is not a footnote; it is a full‑blown crisis. More than 250,000 pupils have been forced out of the classroom since the strike began. That means three academic months lost, nine weeks without structured learning, and well over six hundred potential teaching hours erased from young minds. For a city that brands itself the showcase of Nigeria, this is nothing short of a national embarrassment.

Meanwhile, preparations are in top gear for 29 May, when your office will unveil yet another road‑and‑bridge project, no doubt accompanied by live coverage, banners, and political levity. On May 27, children across the federation marked the annual Children’s Day in colorful school parades. In Abuja, however, the children of taxi drivers, market women, teachers, traders, voters and civil‑service clerks stayed indoors, their uniforms gathering dust, their future on pause.

We must ask the hard question: whom does the FCT serve? Today, it serves only the fortune. Private schools flourish in Maitama and Guzape, charging fees that eclipse the annual income of a petty trader. Yet public schools from Abaji to Bwari languish without roofs, toilets, or textbooks. Teachers report going three, sometimes four months without salary arrears. No electricity means no fans in 40‑degree heat; no water means no hygiene. The result? An exodus of teachers and a collapse of morale.

Beyond infrastructure lies an even harsher barrier: cost. The FCT is the only state in Nigeria that offers zero subsidy for WAEC and NECO registration. In Kano, at least 80 per cent of candidates have their fees covered. Here, the number is nil. Parents are asked to choose between feeding a family of five and paying seventy‑five thousand naira for an exam. Many choose survival, and who could blame them?