Controversial social media activist and influencer, Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), on Monday staged a protest at the residence gate of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Abuja, drawing attention to the ongoing strike by primary school teachers in the capital.
According to PUNCH Online, the strike, which began on March 24, 2025, has persisted for over 90 days. The industrial action was triggered by the failure of Area Council Chairmen to implement the newly approved national minimum wage of N70,000.
As part of his protest, VDM assembled a group of schoolchildren dressed in uniforms and held a symbolic class session in front of the minister’s gate.
READ MORE: Sowore, Ned Nwoko Clash Over Man Detained For Accusing Regina Daniels Of Infidelity
During the class, he taught them the alphabet, calling out: “S for Suegbe, T for Tinubu, W for Wike,” as the children repeated after him.
While addressing the demonstrators, the Mandate Secretary of the Area Councils Services Secretariat, Bitrus Garki, clarified that the situation primarily falls under the jurisdiction of the local councils, although the FCT administration had made efforts to intervene.
“The FCT administration has been intervening in Area Council matters,” Garki said.
“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.”
He went on to explain that although the Area Councils are a separate tier of government, collaborative discussions are ongoing to find a resolution.
“These are collaborative efforts, the local governments are duly elected and they are also a tier of government on their own,” he added.
Assuring the protesters that their demands had been heard, Garki said efforts were being made behind the scenes to end the strike but stopped short of providing a timeline.
“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,” he said.
He further noted that key stakeholders—including traditional rulers, unions such as the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC)—had been involved in ongoing dialogue.
“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,” Garki said.
He called on protesters to remain calm and assured them that the FCT Minister was pushing for the Area Council Chairmen to take necessary action so that pupils could return to the classroom.
In his response, VeryDarkMan issued a one-week ultimatum to the FCT administration, vowing to escalate the protest if there is no meaningful action within that time.
“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,” he declared.
He also announced that the protest would continue on Tuesday to draw attention to another issue—primary healthcare workers in the FCT, who are also affected by the non-payment of the new minimum wage.
“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,” VDM said.
He concluded by insisting the protest was not an attack on the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, but a reminder of his responsibilities.
“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,” he added.
The post “T for Tinubu, W for Wike” – VeryDarkMan Teaches Children At FCT Minister’s Gate To Protest Three Months Teachers’ Strike appeared first on .
