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Tag: Strike

  • Strike not in nation’s interest, Presidency cautions Labour

    Strike not in nation’s interest, Presidency cautions Labour

    • NLC, TUC declare industrial action over assault on Ajaero
    • AGF: respect court order

    Organised Labour yesterday declared the commencement of a nationwide strike from midnight yesterday.

    This is despite Friday’s interim injunction by the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) restraining the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the Trade Union Congress (TUC), and their affiliates from embarking on the strike.

    The court’s president, Justice Benedict Kanyip, granted the order while ruling on an ex-parte application brought by the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) on behalf of the Federal Government and argued by Tijani Gazali (SAN), Acting Director (Civil Appeals), Federal Ministry of Justice.

    The two labour centres directed workers to stay off work from today.

    But the presidency and AGF Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) reminded Labour that the restraining order was still in force.

    Special Adviser to the President on Information & Strategy Bayo Onanuga said in a statement: “We notice with dismay the decision by the NLC and the TUC to call out workers to commence a strike action from midnight, despite a restraining order issued last week by Justice Kanyip of the National Industrial Court.

    “This decision by the NLC and TUC other than being an ego-tripping move is clearly unwarranted. It is an attempt to blackmail the government by the leadership of the NLC.

    “We are still at a loss as to why the NLC and TUC decide to punish a whole country of over 200 million people over a personal matter involving the NLC President, Mr. Joe Ajaero, whose error of judgment led to an assault on him in Owerri while he was planning to incite the workers in Imo State into a needless strike. 

    “While the Federal Government does not condone any form of violence and assault on any citizen of Nigeria regardless of his or her social and economic status, it is on record that the Inspector General of Police has ordered an investigation into what happened to Mr. Ajaero while the Commissioner of Police in Imo State under whose watch the incident happened has been transferred out of the state. 

    “Calling out workers on a national strike over a personal issue of a labour leader despite a clear court order against any industrial action amounts to an abuse of privilege. 

    “Power at any level should never be used to settle personal scores. Rather, it should be used to promote collective progress and advance national interest.

    “Our national economy and social activities should not suffer because of the personal interest of any labour leader.  

    “This flagrant disobedience to court order and lack of respect for the judiciary should not be what the organised Labour would champion. 

    “The labour movement has always been a champion of the rule of law and respect for the judiciary. It is a sad irony that the current labour leaders have shown disdain and utter disregard for court orders. 

    “We reiterate that this strike action is illegal, immoral, unjustifiable and irresponsible. 

    “What the strike notice issued Monday night after official hours suggests is it’s designed for a sinister and hidden agenda to cause undue hardship and cause civil disturbance in our country. This is unacceptable.”

    Fagbemi, in a statement by his Special Assistant Communication & Publicity, Kamarudeen Ogundele, said embarking on industrial action despite a court order against strike, would be contemptuous.

    The statement reads: “We wish to remind the NLC and the TUC that there is a subsisting court order stopping the unions and their affiliates from embarking on the strike.

    “The interim order was granted on November 10 by Justice Kanyip.

    “The unions have been served the court order and, therefore, must surrender themselves to the authority of the court which is already seized with the facts of the case.

    “Any action taken contrary to the order will be tantamount to contempt of court.

    “We use this medium to urge the unions to respect the court order and adhere to the principle of the rule of law. There is no need to resort to self-help.

    “We urge workers to report for duties and not to entertain any fear as their safety is guaranteed and will be protected within the ambit of the law.”

    Read Also: UPDATED: NLC, TUC declare strike, ask members to stay away from work

    The strike is over the beating of NLC President Ajaero in Owerri, the Imo State capital, last week.

    Ajaero had led workers to protest against the Imo State government where violence broke out at Owerri airport. He was assaulted before the police took him to “:protective custody”.

    Ajaero’s photograph with swollen face surfaced in the social media hours after.

    He was not seen in public for one week. When he emerged, he claimed that the police arrested and handed him over to hoodlums.

    The redeployment of the Commissioner of Police in Imo was one of Labour’s demands.

    After a joint National Executive Council meeting yesterday, TUC President Festus Osifo said all affiliates of the two labour centres had been mobilised to ensure the success of the strike.

    According to him, the strike would remain until “governments at all levels wake up to their responsibility.”

    Osifo said: “We demanded that the Area Commander that led the Police to carry out the brutalisation should be relieved of his duties and prosecuted.

    “We asked also that Governor Hope Uzodimma’s Special Adviser on Special Duties, Chinasa Nwaneri, who everyone knew led the touts should also be arrested and prosecuted. Our list of demands is in the public domain.

    “We gave an ultimatum that initially expired Wednesday last week. But on the eve of that expiration, we had a joint session of the NLC and the TUC.

    “We looked at the time we gave and felt as responsible pan – Nigeria organisations, that we should give an additional one week to see if the government will be responsive.

    “And in order to further draw the attention of the government we had the picketing session last week Thursday but instead of the government to come out strongly to condemn this criminality, to speak and stand on the side of justice, some people in government were rather running their mouth and making all kinds of statements.

    “So the two labour centres have resolved to stand firmly by the decision of the joint NEC meeting that was held last Tuesday that effective from midnight on the 14th of November, we shall declare a nationwide strike. 

    “So effective midnight today, a nationwide strike is going to commence.

    “All affiliates of TUC and NLC, all state councils of the two labour centres have been mobilised adequately.

    “And this is going to be indefinite until government at all levels wake up to their responsibility. This is the decision of the joint NEC of NLC and TUC and we are to carry it out to the latter.”

    Some of Labour’s demands are the redeployment and investigation of the Commissioner of Police, Imo State Command and the sacking of the Area Commander and all other officers and men in Owerri through whom the Police Commissioner supervised the brutalisation and humiliation of Ajaero and other workers.

    Labour also demanded the arrest and prosecution of Mr Chinasa, who allegedly supervised the terror on workers and “bestial brutality” meted out to Ajaero.

    Senator Ben Murray-Bruce also faulted Labour’s reason for the strike.

     In a tweet via his X handle @benmurraybruce, he said: “A nationwide strike now because of an isolated incident in just one state that is already being addressed is not in Nigeria’s interest.

    “It may further a personal interest, but it will harm the national interest. Power must not be used to settle scores.

    “Instead, it must be used to promote the shores of our economic and democratic progress. I call on the NLC to be rational and put the national interest and let peace reign.”

  • Labour Strike: Workers observe partial compliance in FCT

    Labour Strike: Workers observe partial compliance in FCT

    Workers in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) observed partial compliance to the directive by the organised labour to it members to embark on an indefinite nationwide strike.

    The Trade Union Congress(TUC) and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) had on Nov. 13, directed all affiliates to embark on an indefinite nationwide strike.

    The strike was called to press home their demands, especially the “non comment  by the Federal Government over the  brutalising of  the NLC President, Joe Ajaero by security agents and hoodlums in Imo”.

    It would be recalled that the NLC had declared a protest in Imo, led by Ajaero on Nov.1, over alleged anti- workers policies by the state government .

    Ajaero was attacked and brutalised by security agents and hoodlums allegedly sent by the state government.

    NAN also reports that Gov. Hope Uzodimma of Imo and the Nigeria Police had refuted the allegation.

    It also be recalled that the National Industrial Court had restrained organised labour from embarking on the planned nationwide strike.

    NAN observed that at the Federal Secretariat, workers were seen going  about.

    Also, at the Area one old Secretariat, workers were also seen going in and out of the place.

    Read Also: Strike not in nation’s interest, Presidency cautions Labour

    Commercial banks such as Guaranty, Union, First Bank , among other banks in Area 3 and 8 were opened for operation as some customers were seen going in and out of the place.

    NAN also report that some schools were open and lessons were on going.

    Also, some workers who spoke with NAN said that the nationwide  indefinite strike was uncalled for.

    They said that people are already  suffering and the economy was not friendly and with the indefinite strike it would increase the hardship on the people.

    (NAN)

  • Financial autonomy: Parliamentary workers to go on strike 

    Financial autonomy: Parliamentary workers to go on strike 

    Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria {PASAN) has declared its intention to embark on a nationwide strike tomorrow if its demands are not met at the expiration of a fresh seven-day ultimatum.

    The union is demanding governors begin immediate implementation of financial autonomy for State Assemblies in line with the 1999 Constitution (as amended). The union warned that the strike will disrupt parliamentary activities across the country.

    In a letter of notice to the Nigerian Governors Forum, Forum of Speakers, and Department of State Services, the workers said they had earlier issued a 21-day strike notice which was ignored.

    Read Also: NDDC vows to support Niger Delta youths

    The notice, signed by Acting Secretary-General, Agugbue Happiness, noted that governors have failed to implement the Financial Autonomy at the Houses of Assemblies, as provided in the constitution.

    The letter reads: “We refer to our letters dated September 18 and October 7, 2023, on a 21-day ultimatum to embark on industrial action if financial autonomy is not implemented in the State Houses of Assembly nationwide by Wednesday, October 18. We hereby inform you that the leadership of our great union has further extended the ultimatum by one week. We therefore hope that the extension would further avail ample opportunity to meet the demands of the union and avert the available industrial action.

    “We hereby reiterate the union’s preparedness to direct its members to embark on the proposed strike if its demands are not yielded to.”

  • House, Bamidele, others urge Labour to reconsider planned strike

    House, Bamidele, others urge Labour to reconsider planned strike

    The House of Representatives, the Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Lekan Balogun, and Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele yesterday joined other eminent Nigerians to plead with organised Labour to reconsider the planned strike over the economic satiation in the country.

    They all agreed that the strike would not serve the best interest of the economy or of the generality of Nigerians.

    The House of Representatives said it was working with all stakeholders to ensure that the palliative measures being designed by government reach vulnerable Nigerians.

    Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Akin Rotimi Jr, said in a statement on the occasion of Nigeria’s 63 Independence Anniversary that the Green Chamber of the National Assembly would not relent in ensuring that the executive arm of government expedites palliative measures to cushion the effects of the removal of fuel subsidy on vulnerable Nigerians.

    He said the theme of the Independence Anniversary, Renewed Hope for Unity and Prosperity, “presents us with another opportunity as a people to reflect on the hope of unity, peace, and shared prosperity bequeathed to us by the founders of our dear country.”

    Read Also: Tinubu, Sultan urge NLC, TUC to shelve proposed strike

    He added:”We, as both leaders and the led, are reminded of the immense responsibility on us in this new dispensation to set aside our differences and work together to achieve a country that works for all, where no one is left behind.

    “Our diversity must be our greatest strength, and our youthful population, as well as the judicious utilisation of our vast human and natural resources, must power our reintroduction to the world as the true giant of Africa whose time for full expression has come.

    “As the ‘People’s Parliament’, the House of Representatives is not unmindful of the numerous challenges we are facing at this time.”

    Olubadan to Labour: Be mindful of effect of total paralysis on our battered economy

    The Olubadan asked labour to return to the negotiation table with the government with a view to averting the planned strike.

    “I plead for dialogue between labour and the government, and in dialoguing, there should be openness and understanding, bearing in mind that where two elephants fight, it is the grass there that suffers,” Oba Balogun said in his Independence Anniversary message through his Personal Assistant (Media), Oladele Ogunsola.

    He said:”Let’s be mindful of the effect of total paralysis on our battered economy. Consider the sick, consider the students from our nursery school to the university, among several others that would bear the brunt. The loss is simply incalculable.

    “I want our labour leaders to cast their minds back to the last prolonged strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the effect on our students. How do we compensate for the loss of a whole academic session in the lives of the affected students? Such loss is eternal because it is not possible to wind back the hand of the clock. That’s just an example.”

    The traditional ruler admitted that “things are really bad and living in the country becoming hellish for the people day by day. But we need to apply caution, considering the short time of the present administration so far and in view of what it inherited. Let’s be optimistic that with time, the situation would become normal.

    “The President is a man of his words, and there’s no reason to doubt his ability and capability to deliver on his campaign promises. Let’s give him more time and equally assist him with prayers. Very soon, I strongly believe we would be seeing the glimpses of the renewed hope promised Nigerians before the election.

    “As somebody at advantage position, having been a member of the National Assembly in the past, I can understand and appreciate the pains leaders go through when things seem not working according to expectation and plan. It is part of leadership prize.

    “In a critical situation like this, leaders need divine touch, understanding and compassion on the part of the people, and God will guide us right.”

    Opeyemi: Strike will inflict pains on Nigerians

     Senate Leader Bamidele Opeyemi pleaded with the strike organisers to stay action on their plan in the national interest.

    The federal government and all relevant agencies, he said, are working round the clock to come up with viable options in response to the demands of the organised labour.

    Bamidele expressed optimism that the country would soon come out of the diverse challenges undermining its  progress, citing the diverse development-driven reforms that the new government has initiated.

    The Senate Leader, therefore, urged Nigerians to team up with the new government to lead the federation out of the doldrums; implement key reforms that will create limitless opportunities for her teeming young population and rebuild global confidence in the country.

    He specifically appealed to the leadership of the NLC and TUC not to embark on an indefinite strike in the national interest, saying such an action “will further inflict more pains on Nigerians at the time the new government is working hard to address their concerns and grievances.

    He said: “At a time like this, labour unions are advised to embrace dialogue rather than consider options that will compound the sufferings of the people. At a time like this, all parties are supposed to go into negotiation with absolute trust in the new government.”

     He also pledged that the 10th Senate would continue to make impactful legislations for Nigeria’s common good under the leadership of the President of the Senate, Senator Goodwill Akpabio.

    Unions mobilise for action

    Investigation by The Nation showed that the various affiliate unions of the NLC and TUC have continued to mobilise their members for the strike scheduled to commence on Tuesday.

    Some of the unions are the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions; Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria; Radio, Television, Theatre and Arts Workers of Nigeria; Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union; National Union of Electricity Employees and National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions Employees.

    The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Polytechnics; National Union of Civil Engineering Construction, Furniture and Wood Workers; Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria and Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations and Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees are also actively involved.

    They have sent circulars to their branches, giving them directives to withdraw their services from midnight on Tuesday.

    Labour is demanding wage award and tax exemptions and allowances to public sector workers.

    Others demands are provision of Compressed Natural Gas buses, release of modalities for the N70bn for Small and Medium Enterprises, release of officials of the National Union of Road Transport Workers by the police, and resolution of the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria crisis in Lagos State, among others.

    The demands also include immediate reversal of all ‘anti-poor policies’ of the Federal Government, including the recent hike in PMS price, increase in public school fees, the release of the eight months withheld salaries of university teachers and workers as well as the increase in Value Added Tax (VAT).

  • It will be government’s fault if workers go on strike as planned

    It will be government’s fault if workers go on strike as planned

    Nothing would have convinced me, as President Bola Tinubu was being sworn into office on 29 May, 2023, that his government could emulate the gross lassitude with which his inept predecessor handled Labour matters under the lead of the egocentric minister of Labour, the all –  knowing Chris Ngige who had the distinct record of worsening every Labour crisis during the Buhari administration. Even where a strike could have been avoided, as in that of medical doctors, his professional colleagues, Ngige ensured it happened, absolutely out of his arrogance. He was as proud as he was obdurate, and each successive strike soon became more of a conflict between him, in his personal capacity, and the striking workers, rather than against government.

    In vain did Nigerians expect that he would change tack during the doctors’ strike but he behaved more like he would never be out of that office.

    There’s no way I could have thought that a sagacious leader like President Bola Tinubu would allow disagreement with labour to linger for as long as we have seen under his short administration, nor could one believe that such a serious issue could be treated with as much laxity as Nigerians have witnessed.

    In none of the meetings with Labour has the government demonstrated any strong commitment to let labour believe that it was not being played. Indeed, the Labour minister has done nothing to indicate that the government expects to see any concrete and lasting resolution come out of the meetings that have become so haphazard labour has even threatened not to attend any longer.

    Read Also: Tinubu addresses Nigerians on Sunday

    In essence, government has not shown that it appreciates the enormity of the hardship Nigerians, especially workers, are going through in consequence of the, albeit, wise and bold decision by the President to stop the wasteful, totally uneconomic, fuel subsidy regime on his very first day in office.

    The suffering has been terrible but we need not delay by listing them and although government, at all levels, have come up with a rash of paliatives, none appears structured to bring about a reasonable and lasting answer to the millenial problems confronting Nigerians.

    It is this lackaidaisical attitude of government that has seen it lose considerable support. Not many can understand the obvious levity with which government has treated its negotiations with labour especially when the same government could vote billions for members of the National Assembly Nigerians believe are not only over paid but pampered.

    Not a few Nigerians believe that what is happening is not  in tune with what they know of a President Tinubu who so positively impacted the lives of Lagos state public servants when he was the state governor that some states in the country came all the way to Lagos to understudy some aspects of the state administration.

    Granted that administering the country is a far greater responsibility, I am yet to see anybody seriously doubt the President’s ability to achieve the glowing success his administration in Lagos was except when political opposition are playing their cheap politics.

    For instance, we saw this cheap stuff in the opportunistic endorsement the Labour party has accorded labour’s planned strike when it said the following in a statement issued by its Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh:

    “Today, Nigerian workers are being punished for taking a stand during the February 25 Presidential Election”.

    “We are not in any way surprised at the government’s apparent indifference, insensitivity, intransigence, and recalcitrant posture towards the genuine demands of the Labour bodies because their usurpation of power was not sanctioned by both the workers and generality of Nigerians.

    “Nigerians went to the polls with clear conviction of the government they wanted but this was denied them through institutional conspiracy. Today, Nigerian workers are being punished for taking a stand during the February 25 Presidential Election. Labour Party is also aware of the sordid conditions which workers, the majority of them being our members, are subjected to, where many go to the office on a Monday and are forced by the prevailing economic challenges to sleep in their offices all through to Friday before returning home.

    “We are also using this medium to inform all our members and supporters to stock their homes with their necessary needs ahead of a long-drawn mass action until victory is ascertained. No retreat, no surrender.”

    You would think they conducted a Pan – Nigerian census to arrive at what Nigerian voters wanted.

    They made the above claim, GBAJUE style, despite their defeat even after 99 percent Igbo voters, inside and outside Igbo land, had cast their votes for the home boy, Peter Obi, of the Labour party. Obi’s failure ought to have taught appropriate lessons for ethnic and religious bigots but for where?

    Cheap as they are, not even the government’s most ardent supporter can suggest that June ’23 to end of September is not a long enough time for the Tinubu administration to have come up with a realistic agreement with Labour. Even if, as is being suggested in some quarters, President Tinubu reels out a list of its offers to labour in terms of improved wages etc on October 1, that would only result in a fresh wave of disagreement as such would not be the product of collective bargaining between the two parties.

    That this will result in more antagonism and confusion is obvious given the fact that at no time in the history of government – Labour relations in the country has Labour become so political, resulting in the worst ever ethnically motivated, totally dislocated Labour organisation, whose headquarters is swallowed up by giant size photographs of Peter Obi, the Labour party presidential candidate.

    Labour has thus become a tool in the hand of that party to perennially attempt to harass the Tinubu government; an opportunity it never fails to grab.unrestrainedly.

    You only have to familiarise yourself with the names of the leaders of most of the affiliate members of the NLC to know that the strike, even with government’s own foibles,  is at best a political ploy.

    Or which well meaning workers’ organisation would believe that what Nigeria needs today, in a country which the former Emir of Kano recently, statistically proved to have been set back 40 years by the President Mohammadu Buhari administration, is a destructive, all – encompassing strike which is targeted at further weakening the country, probably intent on getting non – democratic elements in society to help them achieve that which they failed to get electorally.

    All such intentions will, however, fail.

    That said, President Tinubu must now personally intervene to resolve matters. The last thing Nigeria needs now is a national strike. Therefore in the few days left before the now declared strike, and in order to ensure that the country does not suffer any paralysing, politically motivated strike, the President must from now on handle the negotiations directly as the country can, in no way survive a labour meltdown.

    A strike that is planned to ground aviation, paralyse electricity, banking as well as other key sectors of our already underwheming economy will not only terribly impact on the country, the Tinubu administration may find it difficult to climb  out of such a massive hole.

    It can so damage the government that it may come to define the very essence of an  administration  many already see as a paradigm shift from the economically illiterate   governments that have been our lot for decades

    Without a scintilla of doubt a stitch in time can still save nine. President Tinubu can still avert the strike. He should do everything to see that it does not hold

  • Olubadan pleads with labour unions to shelve planned strike

    Olubadan pleads with labour unions to shelve planned strike

    The Olubadan of Ibadan land, Oba Lekan Balogun, on Saturday pleaded with organised labour to shelve the strike planned to begin on Tuesday nationwide.

    Oba Balogun, in his message on Nigeria’s 63rd Independence Day anniversary, issued in Ibadan by his Personal Assistant on Media, Mr Oladele Ogunsola, urged the labour leadership to have a re-think.

    He said the labour unions, which comprise the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), should explore ways of resolving the vexatious issues instead of the planned strike.

    “The labour leaders should prevail on their members to bear with the present administration, with the mindset that no problem could be solved with another problem,” the traditional ruler said.

    He equally enjoined the Federal Government not to overstretch the people, saying there must be tangible measures to reassure them that the Tinubu administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda was truly for real.

    “I plead for dialogue between labour and government, and in dialoguing, there should be openness and  understanding.

    ”Let us bear in mind that where two elephants fight, it is the grass there that suffers.

    “Let’s be mindful of the effect of a total paralysis on our battered economy.

    ”Consider the sick, consider the pupils and students from our nursery schools to the universities, among several others, who will bear the brunt.

    “I want our labour leaders to cast their minds back to the last prolonged strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the effect on our students

    “How do we compensate for the loss of a whole academic session in the lives of the affected students?

    “Such loss is eternal, because it is not possible to wind back the hands of the clock. That’s just an example,” Oba Balogun pleaded.

    Olubadan, however, acknowledged the position of the labour movement vis-a-viz the plight of workers and the generality of the people.

    He noted that things were really bad and living in the country was becoming hellish for the people day by day.

    ”But in spite of this we need to apply caution, considering the short time of the present administration so far and in view of what it inherited.”

    The Ibadan traditional ruler also described President Tinubu as a man of his words, saying there was no reason to doubt his ability and capability to deliver on his campaign promises.

    He charged the President and his team to come up with some urgent decisions and actions that would cushion the effect of some of the already rolled-out policies.

    The Olubadan reminded the country’s leadership that human endurance was not limitless and it should not stretch Nigerians beyond the limit.

    Read Also: Olubadan expresses shock over death of Eze Ndigbo leader in Ibadan

    Oba Balogun equally congratulated Nigerians on the anniversary and enjoined all to be thankful to God for keeping the country together irrespective of the myriad of challenges the country has encountered.

    “Looking back, at 63, we may be tempted to write ourselves off as a nation for not having attained the expected and commensurate height.

    “But, if we think deeply, we will see the need to appreciate and acknowledge the divine touch of God in the affairs of the country and for which I felicitate all.

    “Let’s remain optimistic, committed and steadfast with unshakeable faith in God for a better and prosperous nation that all of us will be proud of once again,” he stated.

    (NAN)

  • Labour shuns meeting with FG over proposed strike

    Labour shuns meeting with FG over proposed strike

    A meeting scheduled by the Federal Government with the Organised Labour as part of efforts to prevent a nationwide strike failed to hold on Friday evening.

    The Chief of Staff to the President, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila and the Minister of Labour and Employment, Simon Lalong were to be part of meeting with Labour leaders at the Presidential Villa, Abuja around 3pm on Friday but the meeting failed to hold because the Labour side did not show up.

    The Organised Labour had given a notice on Tuesday that workers would be starting an indefinite industrial action from Tuesday, October 3 in protest of the harsh economic conditions occasioned by the removal of fuel subsidy.

    Lalong, was sighted at the office of the Chief of Staff Gbajabiamila in preparation for the meeting, but as at about 5:30pm, the expected Labour leaders had not shown up. Efforts to get the the reason for their absence were unsuccessful Friday night.

    Read Also: How Tax Reform Committee will spend N5bn, Oyedele explains

    But sources close to the office of the Chief of Staff informed the meeting had been rescheduled for sometime over the weekend.

    “They have to disperse since the NLC and TUC people didn’t show up. There must have been a reason and I believe they would have communicated their reasons to those waiting for them. I learned though that the meeting has been rescheduled for sometime during the weekend, but I don’t know which day,” the source said.

    The Organised Labour has settled for an all out strike after accusing government of unseriousness, premising its reason for its strike action on the economic downturn.

  • A deal to avoid strike

    This column is concerned that the federal government is yet to offer the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) a proposal to end the perennial threat of a nation-wide strike, since May 29. Or could it be that the NLC which stands accused of having a partisan interest in the 2023 election, which is beyond their primary responsibility of protecting workers’ welfare, have a hidden agenda to torpedo the new administration?

    This writer is worried that the fragile national economy cannot sustain a prolonged nation-wide strike, and therefore urge the federal government and the NLC/TUC to work together to avert it.

    The meeting between the government and labour scheduled for today must be put to maximum use in the interest of the country. While four months is too short to make a comprehensive deal with the labour unions, considering the varied interest groups, such as the National Assembly, state governments, employers’ association, wages and salaries commission, budget and planning commission and others interests that must be widely consulted, there ought to be serious negotiations ongoing to avoid the distractions of threat of strike.

    Agreeably, the problems inherited by the federal government are as high as Mount Kilimanjaro, but in the order of priority, the NLC and TUC demands for better working condition should be amongst the top interests to receive attention. Under the prevailing economic condition, the public wage structure, particularly the national minimum wage, is a scandal. The value of the naira cannot depreciate by over 250% since the last review of the minimum wage in 2019, while the wages and salaries of workers remain the same.

    On its part, the NLC must eschew every iota of partisan interest in negotiating a new minimum wage. For this column, it was a mistake for the NLC which controls majority of workers in Nigeria to openly support a political party, as happened in the 2023 elections. The reason is that there would be a blur between partisan interest and workers’ interests. And that blur would affect both the leadership and rank and file, as it is impossible to force all workers belong to one political party.

    Again, where the labour union’s preferred party lose the election, the union will be in a quagmire in dealing with the party that won the election throughout the tenure. Any action, even when in pursuit of workers’ interest could be interpreted by the successful party as a partisan exercise. But considering that the harm has been done, the NLC and the TUC must eschew partisanship and negotiate for the welfare of the workers, bearing in mind that their paramount interest should be the wellbeing and survival of the country. 

    Read Also: BREAKING: FG declares Wednesday September 27 public holiday

    While it will be unreasonable to expect a new minimum wage in place after barely four months into the new administration, the shape of what is to come ought to be in the skyline. This column believes President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration will be a labour-friendly administration as borne out by the experience of workers in Lagos State where the president held sway as governor between 1999-2007. While historically it was bumpy with the union leaders at the beginning, the Lagos workers went on to become the best paid and most secured after the initial hiccups.

    The Minister of Labour and Employment Simon Lalong, as well as the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Nkiruka Onyejeocha appears to be distracted by their cases at the National Assembly Election Petitions Tribunals. While Lalong has been declared as the duly elected senator for Plateau South district, Onyejeocha has been declared the winner of Isiukwuato Umunneochi Federal Constituency, in the 2023 general elections. It is likely that managing the election cases may have affected their concentration on the urgent job of negotiating with the NLC and TUC to avoid a national strike.

    Unfortunately, the two ministers have become like the proverbial dog distracted by which of the two plates of food to concentrate on, with the recent judgements of the tribunals. Will they forgo their ministerial appointments and return to the red and green chambers respectively? Interestingly, some women groups are already urging Onyejeocha to forgo the ministerial appointment and return to the National Assembly, where she would be a top ranking representative considering her years as a legislator. Regardless of which preferences they have, the more important concern here is the drag in dealing with the labour unions.

    Hopefully, President Tinubu would find an answer to that distraction and get results to avert a national strike if the delay is from the ministers. This column hopes the present administration would eventually secure a holistic wage review to minimize sectoral threats of strike. One of the sectors that urgently needs attention is the health sector. As the statistics have shown, Nigerian medical personnel, whether doctors, nurses or other professions in the sector, form a large chunk of the emigrants to Europe, North America and even Asia.

    Hopefully, the Minister of Labour would not dismiss the worrisome brain drain in the health sector the way his predecessor Chris Ngige, dismissed our common worries. The former minister claimed that Nigeria has 350,000 medical doctors, far more than the 250,000 which according to him the World Health Organisation prescribed for the country, and as such those who want to leave because of the poor remuneration in the sector should leave. As if heeding the call, Nigerian medical personnel are leaving the country in droves, because of poor working condition.

    Yet, a simple research shows that while some years ago, Nigeria has about four doctors to 10,000, the WHO recommendation standard is one doctor to 600 patients. Last year, it was reported that Nigeria has only 24,000 licensed medical doctors practicing in the country, which is projected at less than ten per cent of the number needed to meet the WHO recommendation. Of course, the country has trained about four times that number, but the majority of them have emigrated to other countries, with the United Kingdom being the highest beneficiary.

    Recently, the United Kingdom initiated a teaching opportunity in priority subjects in the country. This new program would soon draw a large chunk of our best teachers to the UK, unless measures are put in place to pay a living wage to teachers in Nigeria. With a salary of about £28,000 dangled at prospective teachers, and with one pound equal to about to about N1250 in the parallel market, exodus of teachers may become the next national emergency, if there is no urgent wage review.

    Without further delay, this column urges the federal government to review upwards the national minimum wage. On their part, the labour unions must exhibit patriotism, instead of partisanship, in their negotiation with their employers and the governments at all levels.

  • Warning strike in partial success

    Warning strike in partial success

    • Businesses run in Lagos, Abuja, Ibadan, Ekiti
    • Full compliance in Niger, Edo, Enugu, Port Harcourt
    • Compliant level excites Ajaero
    • Govt, Labour to resume talks

    Many workers in Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies(MDAs) yesterday complied with the two-day warning strike directed by the Nigerian Labour Congress(NLC).

    But some who turned up at their duty posts in the Federal Capital Territory(FCT),  Anambra,   Ondo, Gombe, Kaduna and  Edo were chased away by NLC officials dispatched to monitor the compliance level.

     Some state civil servants did reported for work while others did not.

    While aviation and many bank workers shunned the strike directive, their counterparts in various courts across the country stayed away from their duty posts.

    Trading on the floor of of the Nigeria Exchange also went on unhindered.

    The first day of the strike was, however, generally peaceful, a development that enabled private sector workers to go about their businesses.  

    NLC President Joe Ajaero and Secretary Emmanuel Ugboaja had on Friday declared the strike over what they termed  Federal Government’s failure to engage stakeholders within the organised labour on efforts to cushion the effects of petrol removal on the poor masses.

     The Federal Government and Trade Union Congress (TUC), a key arm of organised labour, denounced the strike as premature.

    The Presidency also cautioned the NLC on Monday against mixing Labour issues with politics.

    FCT, which has the largest concentration of federal workers   was the worst hit by the strike, which the NLC described as a ”resounding success..”  

    At the Federal Ministry of Finance, NLC officials in a white Toyota Hiace stormed the building and went from office- to office ringing a bell and chasing out workers who did not want to be part of the strike.

    Outside the ministry’s gate, motorists attempting to enter the ministry were  sent back by the unionists who shut the gates

     Only very few workers were seen at the Federal Secretariat, which hosts most of the federal ministries.   

    Also, at the Radio House, the gate was locked by NLC officials, who prevented workers from entering the premises.

    It was observed that some filling stations in the FCT and many banks were closed. A few   banks, however, opened to customers  

     Lagos

    Banks and filling stations operated in full swing in spite of the strike directive. Other private business operators, including transporters and traders, were also unconcerned about the industrial action.

    Read Also: NLC strike: Lagos banks defy service withdrawal directive

    In spite of the downpour,  shops  at Mile 12 Market, Ketu Market and Oyingbo Market opened for business. 

    But members of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers(NURTW), National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions Employees and  Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) stayed away from work.

      Joy Onome,  Public Relations Officer of the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), said they could not transact any business because the gates to the ports were shut down by MWUN leaders.

    Onome, who noted that containers that were meant to be dropped for examination did not take place, lamented that the same might happen today.

    The aviation unions that opted out of the strike are the Association of Nigeria Professionals, ANAP, National Union of Air Transport Employees, NUATE, National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers, NAAPE and the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, ATSSSAN.

    They said they could not afford to jeopardise the industry’s safety record before the global community.

    Oyo

     The state secretariat was open. A  good percentage of the state workers were seen alighting from government buses at the appropriate time. But some of them had to leave after noon, seeing that there was no full service.  

      Commercial banks, the  Federal Secretariat in the state and other federal institutions were not open for service.  

    At the Federal Secretariat, palm fronds were placed at different parts of the gate to symbolise no entry.

    Institutions such as the National Horticulture  Institute and Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria (FRIN) FRIN that were visited by our correspondents in the Ibadan metropolis had their gates shut. 

    Bank workers also reported for work early but they did not open for business for security reasons. 

     Some union leaders under the aegis of the Federal Workers Forum were seen at the entrance preventing the few workers who reported for work from entering the premises.

    The gates of the Oyo State High Court/ Magistrates Courts at Ring Road and Iyaganku,  the Federal High Court, Court of Appeal and National Industrial Court were also shut to the public.

       The Nation observed that only a  few nurses were on duty at the Adeoyo State Hospital and Oni and Sons Children’s Hospital at Ring Road in Ibadan.

    NLC chairman in the state Kayode Martins expressed satisfaction with the level of compliance.

    Ondo

      Workers shunned the strike directive and reported for work at the state secretariat in Akure, the state capital. 

    But they were chased away by union officials.   

    However, some banks opened to their customers. Most private business operators, especially commercial bus operators and fuel marketers, operated in spite of the strike.  

    The  state NLC leaders accused the Head of Service,  Kayode Ogundele, of causing an industrial crisis by  threatening to sanction any worker who joined

    Osun  

    In the state,  workers below Grade Level 7 complied with the strike directive while senior staff members reported for work.

    Some of the junior workers were seen in the early hours of yesterday loitering around the entrance of the state secretariat in Osogbo. They later returned home.

    However, the gates of the Transmission Company of Nigeria(TCN) along Osogbo/Ikirun Road were shut by some unionists.

    Further checks revealed that some banks were not open. 

     Caretaker Chairman of state NLC,  Modupe Oyedele,  said: “There is strict compliance with the warning strike under the umbrella of NLC, all the affiliate unions joined the strike.”  

    *Ogun

    Most workers stayed away from work in the state capital where  NLC officials moved around monitoring compliance. 

      NLC state Chairman Hameed Ademola said that the workers who showed up at the state secretariat were  TUC members.  

    “We are on strike, the mobilisation was intense and the adherence very encouraging. There is no protest, no road walk. The directive was strictly ‘Sit – at – Home.’ 

    “We have gone around monitoring offices and if you saw any person in the offices, it is a TUC member. We are serious and we are in our different homes,” he said.

     His TUC counterpart,   Akeem Lasisi, said the union distanced itself from the strike because it was a one-sided show.

    “The warning strike was declared by NLC with very good intentions but without the input or involvement of TUC leadership,’ he said.

    *Ekiti

    At the state secretariat in Akure, civil servants and public health workers turned up for work at their different ministries and departments. Only a few MDAs were under lock and key.

    *Kwara

    In Ilorin, some commercial banks opened their gates to customers   in the morning but later closed probably out of fear.

     They initially claimed that they did not receive directives from their head offices not to open.

     Checks revealed that the gates of the Kwara State Secretariat at  High Area were open. But only a small percentage of civil servants were at their duty posts. 

    Delta

    At the Federal Secretariat in Asaba, many offices were shut but a few offices were open for business.

    The  offices that opened    included the  National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Federal Fire Service, National Directorate of Employment (NDE), National Youths Service Corp (NYSC), Legal Aid Council, National Business and Technical Education Board NABTEB) and  National Teachers Institute

     The few workers present were seen discussing the situation in groups

     The situation was no different at the Chike Edozien Secretariat as workers were seen milling around.  .In Warri, patients were left stranded at the Central Hospital due to the strike.  

     At the Children’s Ward,   parents who brought their children for treatment looked despaired on being informed that doctors were not on the ground to attend to them.

    Those on admission were discharged and referred to the emergency unit of the hospital or to the Delta State Teaching Hospital, Oghara.

    Plateau

    Workers, including medical personnel, also stayed at home. Only private sector workers operated.

     A visit to the Federal Secretariat and  Joseph Gomwalk (state) secretariat showed their gates under lock and key.  

     Although there was no sign of a threat to peace in the state, the Police Command mobilised its personnel to some strategic places in Jos, the state capital.

    The Commissioner of Police, Julius Alawari told The Nation that the command would “not allow any protest, road walk or procession”.

    *Enugu   

       Some of the Ministries were closed while those open had mostly senior civil servants on duty.

    But in those that opened, workers seen were mostly senior civil servants, who went about their duties with calm.  

    While most banks opened for services, the state High Court complex was under lock and key.

    A litigant at the state High Court,  Chidi Okoye, lamented that the strike affected court proceedings.

      ”My case has suffered undue adjournment due to strike actions for three months now,” Okoye said.

    * Kaduna

    At the Kaduna State Secretariat on Independence Way, personnel of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) were sighted manning the gate to ensure law and order

    Also, commercial banks, courts and other public offices were shut down by the striking labour union leaders.

     *Rivers

    While the Government Secretariat in Port Harcourt was deserted by the workers, political appointees of the government were seen in their offices performing their tasks.

      Edo

    There was full compliance with the strike in the state with the  federal and state secretariats shut down.

     Public hospitals, courts, and other establishments in Benin were also affected.  

    The strike forced the National/State Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal in Benin to reschedule two judgments that it ought to have delivered yesterday.

    NLC Chairman in the state, Odion Olaye, who described the strike as total, said: “NLC does not need the support of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) to be able to send its messages to the Federal Government, and cause the needed change.”

    * Bayelsa

    There was also total compliance with the strike in the state by NLC members.

    The union’s chairman in the state, Simon Barnabas, said: “We joined the warning strike. I am monitoring it with my team to ensure total compliance. It is a warning strike. We embarked on the strike ahead of a total action at the expiration of the 21-day ultimatum we have given the Federal Government.

    “We are on the two-day warning strike to agitate for the Federal Government to ensure that the nation’s refineries work, and to press for other conditions of services that will help to ameliorate the sufferings of the people, including workers, occasioned by the removal of fuel subsidy and other very urgent needs.”

    * Akwa Ibom

    Government and banking activities in the state were also  crippled.   

    As early as 6am, the NLC leadership   mobilised workers to block the gates of the state secretariat, known as the Idongesit Nkanga secretariat. Government House and Secretariat Annex along Udo Udoma Avenue, Uyo.

    Commercial banks were shut to customers with workers staying away from work.

    Labour leaders embarked on a peaceful protest along Abak Road from the state secretariat from 10am, chanting solidarity songs, before returning to the take-off point at 11 am. 

    * Cross River

    The strike also seemed to succeed in the state  with the  NLC chairman   Gregory Olayi,   describing the strike as “total and very successful.”

    Olayi spoke after inspecting offices to see if workers heeded the directive.

    He said: “We are happy that we succeeded in making members stay at home for the warning strike. There is nobody in any of the offices. We are standing right in front of the office of the Head of Service, Cross River State; there is no worker in the offices, with the gates also shut.”

    *Kano

    Officials of the state branch of the NLC began the strike by closing down the headquarters of the Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO).

     Most of the banks were  not opened for business. The Audu Bako Secretariat, which houses most of   government  ministries  was also shut down.

    However, other businesses, including markets and filling stations were open.

     The  government pleaded with the NLC’s Kano chapter to relax the strike in sectors that provide essential services.

    *Youth Party to NLC: don’t worsen hardship

    Meanwhile, the Youth Party (YP) urged the NLC not to worsen the hardship caused by the removal of petrol subsidy through its warning strike.

    In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary Ayodele Adio, the party urged Labour to take a pragmatic approach to resolving the issues.

    “The Youth Party would like to call on the NLC and its allied unions to apply the pressure of their actions with a human face, as their ultimate goal should be to ameliorate the hardship being faced by Nigerians and not to worsen it.

    “We caution the NLC to take a creatively pragmatic approach that would not compound the economic hardship currently being experienced by the masses,” the party said.

    On how to address the post-subsidy removal pain, the party stressed that focus on public transportation to reduce cost of living should be immediate.

  • Strike paradox. ‘Minister: Are you a thief?’ Plaque pls.

    Strike paradox. ‘Minister: Are you a thief?’ Plaque pls.

    There is a paradox in ‘Strike Wars’. Who gets hurt most? Who is collateral damage? The poor or the salaried? Sometimes the salaried privileged are the underprivileged, by salary denial, and made poor. Strikes are to right wrongs. But the poor suffer. Around every salary is a group of daily paid vendors and around a salary pool like a university, institution or government secretariat there is an army of daily paid vendors – food, support services, newspapers and transport. These become zero during a strike. In a strike, Strike 1 is always against the poor!

    Once the food vendor loses the stomachs due to strike day, the food vendor will never sell double the day after the strike, so strike losses are 100% for many millions of daily paid workers but not for salaried workers if the salary will still be paid for strike days. 

    Here is a typical example of strike day losses. Upscaled to any strike length. The unread newspapers on strike day will not be sold next day or post-strike. As usual in the mountaintop to chasm, roller-coaster, 100% to 0% in 24 hours, day-after-publication-day, they become dustbin liners in kitchen, wastepaper basket lining or remain on the street as groundnut, boli, ojojo, gurudi and akara wrapping, too cheap for birthday cake. Yesterday pre-strike, each page was worth N4-5million hosting a congratulatory portrait birthday message or for a politician’s assumption of office, preferably in budget-sucking unmonitorable ‘juicy ministry’.

    From strike day the paper devalues into a target practice ‘how far can you pee’ and ‘can you hit the target’ competitions for children in Abe Bridge and break time schoolboy pranks. One or two pages may be salvaged for historical purposes by dedicated newspaper collectors like my late good friend Professor Tobi Aken’Ova or even to become pin-ups for star-struck youth, but most pages are fire-bound, or to block another gutter during rainy season.

    But there are some positives from strikes, payment of rights from previously irresponsible governance, sadly post mortem sometimes. Even when funds come after 1-8 month strikes in the health and academic sectors, the positives now come with negative, callous implementation of evilly planned and executed ‘No-Work-No-Pay’ (NWNP) strategy.

    This NWNP strategy paralysed medicine and education workers notably, National Association of Resident Doctors, NARD and Academic Staff of Universities, ASUU members, merely fighting for rights denied by greed-driven and arrogant political and ministerial officials who not once been recalled by incumbent government officials to answer why they did not implement agreements and simple promotions as-and-when-due 3, 5,8, 4-10 years previously.

    Past government officials are irresponsibly protected by an unspoken and illegal INTERGOVERNMENT OMERTA [SILENCE] POLICY allowing past such officials to get away with minimising or murdering many professions by denying rights.

    It is time unions, national professional bodies and concerned citizen groups like SERAP etc take past government officials, year by year of service to court for ‘Breach of Employment Contract’ when they deny payment, steal or divert or misappropriate salaries, pensions, promotions and allowances and the compulsory pensions and other workforce contributions.

    So, we must establish that there are as yet unpunished criminally culpable past government officials – failures in their jobs- boastfully walking Nigeria as retired government bigwigs with plaques and oversized pensions to prove it. Shame on them! How dare the current occupiers of those same government offices deny salary service to contractually obligated wage workers for strike periods aimed at righting wicked wrongs inflicted by past criminal government officers?  Will there be nationwide NWNP in this ongoing strike? One thinks not!

    This week we have 45 ministers sitting in shiny offices amidst nationwide squalor. How many ministers are serious, nationalistic, no-nonsense, bent on improving Nigeria’s most valuable possessions – citizens and currency [naira] value? How many ministers are thieves, wolves in ministers’ clothing, settling into traditional ministerial corruption, kickbacks, budget padding, upfront gratification, party-payback scams and schemes? Are briefcases of money or little black diamond bags reporting to ensure work is ruined on refineries, in electricity, health, education, waterways, ports, passports, roads-all essentially citizen friendly sustainable development projects? 

    ‘ARE YOU A THIEF?’ is a must-ask question based on EFCC, ICPC cases involving ministers etc. Never again! We cannot afford thieves in 2023 government structure. See how a small drop in thievery credited to this government has lifted Nigeria’s oil production by 900,000 barrels but still short of our allocation. Work quicker please. Imagine if no thievery had ever been allowed by past ministers and security agents?

    ‘ARE YOU A THIEF’ SHOULD BE ON A PLAQUE with a picture of 37 children, given to every new minister, commissioner, permanent secretary, director, parastatal head and security head. The ministerial tree often rots from the head.

    Do you wonder why and how Nigeria has survived annual losses of trillion naira+ in financial crimes taken through  numerous rarely-concluded court circus cases by EFCC, ICPC with whistle blower evidence? Other countries would have crumbled. Even Nigeria seemed heading for nothingness. The criminal contract-inflation based and selfish individualised politically greed-motivated theft and 419 activities by ministers and high government officials, directors, permanent secretaries and line officers, male and female, responsible for good governance and sustainable development are recurrent. Will they recur 2023-2027? Such scandals would kill most countries.  But not Nigeria. Why? Because Nigeria sits not on our corrupted economic, banking and black-market system. Nigeria is protected and saved from corruption because it sits on the strong camel’s back- a camel made by Nigeria’s ‘mama-inside-market-daily-paid economy’ of course!