VeryDarkMan Leads School Children in Protest at Wike’s Gate Over FCT Teachers’ Strike

Popular social media activist and influencer, Martins Vincent Otse, widely known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), led a protest on Monday, June 23, at the gate of the FCT Minister’s office in Abuja.

The protest was aimed at demanding an end to the ongoing FCT primary school teachers’ strike, which has kept children out of school for over 90 days.

Since March 24, 2025, public primary school teachers in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have been on strike. The cause of the industrial action is the failure of Area Council Chairmen to implement the new national minimum wage of ₦70,000 for teachers.

In a bold move to draw attention to the issue, VeryDarkMan gathered a group of schoolchildren in their uniforms and held a symbolic class session at the protest venue.

While teaching them the alphabet, he used satire to make a point, saying: “S for Suegbe, T for Tinubu, W for Wike,” with the children repeating after him.

The protest caught the attention of government officials, and the Mandate Secretary of the Area Councils Services Secretariat, Bitrus Garki, came out to address the crowd.

Garki clarified that while the FCT Administration has been stepping in to help, the issue falls mainly under the responsibilities of the Area Councils.

“This is mainly the responsibility of the Area Councils,” he said. “However, the FCT administration has intervened in many instances—not just in education, but also in areas like infrastructure. These are joint efforts, but local governments are a separate and elected tier of government.”

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Garki went on to assure the protesters that their demands had been heard and were being looked into. However, he did not give a specific date for when the strike would be resolved. “We have heard your message loud and clear, and the authorities will meet to address it,” he said.

He added that resolving the matter involves different stakeholders such as the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), and even traditional rulers who have all been part of ongoing talks.

Garki asked for patience and stressed that the FCT Minister was doing everything possible to ensure that the Area Council Chairmen act quickly to get the children back in school.

In response, VeryDarkMan issued a seven-day ultimatum to the administration. He said that if no action is taken within a week, he will mobilize even more students across the FCT to protest.

“We’re giving them a week,” VDM said. “If nothing happens and children are still at home, we’ll bring more students from all over the FCT. We hope they act fast.”

He also announced that the protest would continue the next day to highlight the unpaid minimum wage of primary healthcare workers, who are also on strike.

“Today is for the students. Tomorrow, we’ll focus on primary healthcare workers. We are not against Wike, we just want him to remember that people are suffering,” VDM said.

He added, “He might be focused on 2027 elections and may have forgotten. So we’re just here to remind him. We’re not fighting him.”

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