2026 MAY DAY PRESS RELEASE

Venues: Eagle Square, Abuja and All State Chapters Nationwide

The President and The Commander in Chief Of The Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The National President, Nigeria Labour Congress.

The President, Trade Union Congress,  

Honourable Minister of Labour and Employment. 

Honourable Minister of Education, Science and Technology.

The Head of Service Of The Federation.

Directors-General and Heads of Agencies here present,  

The National President Of Proprietors Of Private Schools.

Fellow Comrades in the Labour Movement,  

Members of the National Executive Council, PRISCTUN,  

State Chairmen and Secretaries of PRISCTUN,  

Gentlemen of the Press,  

Our gallant Private School Teachers across Nigeria,  

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen.

 SOLIDARITY GREETINGS

On behalf of over 500,000 Private and Independent School Tutors in Nigeria, I bring you fraternal greetings from PRISCTUN. Today, we join workers globally to celebrate May Day 2026. _Psalm 128:2_ says, “Thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.” But for the Nigerian Private School Teacher, this scripture is still a prayer, not yet a testimony.

The theme for this year, _“Insecurity, Poverty – The Bane of Decent Work in Nigeria”_, is not academic for us. It is our daily reality. The International Labour Organization defines “Decent Work” as work that is productive, delivers fair income, security, freedom, equity, and human dignity. _James 5:4_ cries out: “Behold, the hire of the labourers… which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth.” That cry is loudest in private schools.

Comrades, Nigerian private school teachers are the most abused segment of the Nigerian workforce. Let the facts speak:

Unfair Labour Practice Our Reality in 2026

     # 1. Poverty Wages** 78% of our members earn below ₦40,000 monthly. Many earn ₦15,000 in major cities. This is slavery, not salary. *Leviticus 19:13* — “The wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night.” Yet some proprietors owe 8 months.

  # 2. Job Insecurity** No appointment letters. No contracts. A teacher can be sacked on WhatsApp for asking for salary. No pension. No NHIS. No gratuity. We bury our colleagues from chapels to graves with no benefits.

  # 3. Physical Insecurity** Bandits kidnap teachers in Kaduna, Zamfara, Niger. Gunmen enter classrooms in Imo and Anambra. Many schools in Nigeria and across the North have shut down. A teacher cannot give quality education under the barrel of a gun.

    # 4. Work Overload** One teacher handles 6 subjects, serves as cleaner, gate-man, and lesson teacher after school, yet called “unprofessional” if results drop. *Exodus 5:7* — “Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick.”

   # 5. No Voice** Victimization of teachers who join unions. Many proprietors ban unionism outright. This violates Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution and ILO Conventions 87 and 98.

 *INSECURITY + POVERTY = INDECENT WORK*  

Insecurity drives away students, so proprietors cut salaries. Poverty wages drive away qualified teachers, so quality dies. The child of the poor then receives poor education, and the cycle of poverty continues. _Proverbs 22:16_ — “He that oppresseth the poor to increase his riches… shall surely come to want.” Nigeria cannot develop when the builder of the next generation is broken.

Therefore, PRISCTUN declares today that the era of silence is over. We demand:

  1. *To the Federal Government:*  

   a. *National Minimum Wage for Private Schools:* Enforce the ₦70,000 minimum wage in ALL private schools through the Ministry of Labour.  

   b. *Security for Schools:* Create a “Safe School Squad” in every LGA. Fence and light all schools. _Nehemiah 4:17_ — “With one hand they worked, with the other held a weapon.”  

   c. *Establish the National Council for Private Education* to regulate employment, stop casualization, and license proprietors.

2. *To State Governments:*  

   a. Stop multiple taxation of low-fee private schools but compel them to pay teachers first.  

   b. Domesticate and enforce the Pension Reform Act 2014 in private schools. No teacher should retire into destitution.

3. *To Proprietors – Our Social Partners:*  

   a. _Isaiah 1:17_ — “Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed.” Pay living wages. Issue contracts. Remit pensions.  

   b. Allow unionization. A happy teacher makes a profitable school. We are not your enemies; we are your greatest asset.

4. To the NLC & TUC:

   Private school teachers are workers too. We need a special desk in the Labour House. Our struggle is your struggle.

 OUR PLEDGE AS PRISCTUN

We pledge to:  

1. Continue to train our members for 21st-century teaching.  

2. Expose and picket schools running “modern slavery camps.”  

3. Partner with all stakeholders to rescue education. _Ecclesiastes 9:10_ — “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.”

To every private school teacher listening in Lagos, Kebbi, Bauchi , Yola Kano, Port Harcourt, Ilorin, Okenne, Jos, Abeokuta, Akure, Oshogbo, Yenagoa, Maiduguri: We see you. We hear you. We are you.  

_Isaiah 60:1_ — “Arise, shine; for thy light is come.” Your light will not go out.  

_Galatians 6:9_ — “In due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” This season of indecency will end.

As we march today, we march for the boy in Olomoore , Burning Kebbi, Mokwa, Funtia, Yelwa, Dapshi, Chibok, Asaba, Badagry, Oke iho, Is eyin, Ibadan who deserves a teacher not worried about hunger. We march for the girl in Kaura Namoda who deserves to learn without fear of kidnappers. We march because _“the labour of the righteous tendeth to life”_ _Proverbs 10:16_.

Aluta continua. Victoria ascerta.  

God bless PRISCTUN.  

God bless the Nigerian worker. 

God bless NLÇ

God bless TUC 

God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

_National President_  

Private and Independent Schools Tutors Union of Nigeria by (PRISCTUN)  

1st May, 2026