Nigeria, June 29 -- A few days ago, controversial social media activist Martin Otse, popularly known as Very Dark Man staged a teaching with primary school pupils at the gate of the Federal Capital Territory Administration Secretariat in Abuja. The occasion was to draw attention and even opprobrium to the government over the months-long strike action by teachers in public primary schools within the Federal Capital Territory over the minimum wage.

Now, whether it is the government that is sticking to its guns or the teachers who are refusing to be reasonable, a sobering fact is that for more than three months now, some of Nigeria's youngest school goers have had their education interrupted and their lives disrupted. For a government that ...