4th November, 2018
PRESS RELEASE:
NLC STRIKE: WEIGH OPTIONS
BEFORE ACTION
The
Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has threatened to go ahead with its planned
strike billed to start on Tuesday 6th November, 2018. This is in
spite of a court order stopping NLC from embarking on a strike action. Although
NLC is demanding N30,000 as minimum wage, the Federal Government (FG) has
offered to pay workers N24,000 while state governments are offering N22,000.
Meanwhile
the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has appealed to NLC to weigh the options
properly before commencing the strike.
In a
statement released on Monday, 5th November, 2018, MURIC cautioned
against a strike action whose major victims will be the poor jamaaheer. According
to the director of the organization, Professor Ishaq Akintola who signed the
press statement, the same workers and innocent members of their families are
most likely to suffer the devastating consequences of an all-out industrial
action.
“NLC has directed workers to stock their
homes with foodstuffs in preparation for a long strike. But can Nigerian
workers sustain this? How much does an average Nigerian worker have in his bank
account to enable him reserve food supplies at home? In the midst of pervasive
poverty, we doubt much if the masses who have been asked by the NLC to stock
foodstuffs at home will be able to afford it. The take-home pay of the average
worker cannot take him home. So what is the quantity of foodstuffs he can
afford to reserve at home in preparation for the strike?
“Besides, will a general strike not inform
the evacuation of hundreds of sick Nigerians from hospital beds? Will it not
lead to an increased number of deaths of citizens who do not have the money to
access private health facilities? What will happen to accident victims during a
strike?
“Socio-economic activities stand the
risk of being paralysed. Banks will remain shut and even ATM machines may soon
become dry. This strike may turn out to be an open invitation to hunger in the
land.
“The impact on the oil sector is expected
to be severe. Oil output is likely to be affected. Oil exports which hit 1.7 million
barrels per day in October 2018 may come to a complete halt. It cannot be good
news to stop oil exports at a time when the price of oil has risen and it is
hovering between $76 and $80 after suffering a fall as low as $38 per barrel at
the inception of this adminidtration. This is capable of wreaking havoc on the
economy. The naira will depreciate further, forcing prices of goods to
skyrocket while both imports and exports will be affected as the ports go to
sleep.
“This is why we are appealing to NLC
leadership to consider the implications of a general strike at this crucial
time. By the way, is NLC certain that an irrational payrise resulting from a
forced increase in wages will not provoke retrenchment of workers?
“The
economy was most crudely battered for sixteen years of reckless looting between
1999 and 2015. This precipitated a recession which lasted almost one year under
the present regime. The quick recovery from the recession was due to the
prudent management of the economy by the Buhari administration and its blockage
of leakages. A general strike just when the economy is starting to look good
will do workers no good.
MURIC advised NLC leaders to focus on
responsible leadership, patriotic intervention and citizen-oriented actions.
Akintola asked, “Where was NLC when the
National Assembly (NASS) shut down the whole nation as it went on recess for
weeks ad infinitum? Where were the leaders of labour when the budget was delayed
for a whole seven months? Are they telling us that they do not know the
implications of prolonged delay of budgets?
“The whole nation expected NLC to stand
up when the NASS deducted humongous amounts of money from the budgets of
critical sectors of the economy and added same to their own. Were NLC leaders
on sabbatical at that time? Mambilla Power Plant, 2nd Niger Bridge/ancillary
roads, East-West Road, Bonny-Bodo Road, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway &
Itakpe-Ajaokuta Rail allocations were cut by an aggregate of N11.5 billion. The
provision for construction of the Terminal Building at Enugu Airport was cut
from N2billion to N500million. Wasn’t that outrageous? But does it mean nothing
to NLC?
“Positive activism demands that NLC
should show concern for the reckless and selfish actions of the 8th
NASS. The fact that the cuts from allocations to vital sectors of the economy
were added to the budget of the NASS should have struck some vital cords in the
anatomy of labour leadership and spurred it to action.
“We expect NLC to strike against legislative
recklessness, not only against stomach infrastructure. A government that is
providing infrastructure and bringing back the glorious days of rail
transportation for Nigerian workers deserves NLC’s cooperation.
“N22.6 billion was released by FG to pay
pensioners of the Nigerian Railway after they have been ignored for fifteen (15)
years. A government that is paying pensions to retirees who have been ignored
for years deserves NLC’s understanding. For crying out loud, those 8.5 million
children who are benefiting from FG’s school-feeding programme are children of
workers. FG has so far spent N49 billion on the project in two years. This is a
government with a human face.
“We do not wish to be misunderstood.
MURIC is on the side of Nigerian workers. We also believe that the present
minimum wage of N18,000 is unrealistic. But NLC needs to time its action
appropriately and put the blame where it really belongs. NLC should face the
hawks in the NASS who illegally allocated N29 million monthly to themselves.
NLC should lead workers and the rest of Nigerians to protest against parliamentary
rascality and legislative impunity.
“In
conclusion, we appeal to NLC to shelve its planned strike action and go back to
the negotiation table in the interest of Nigerian workers. We call for
proactive activism on the part of NLC. The Nigerian people expect the labour
leaders to emancipate them from legislative tyranny. NLC’s focus should not be
on the central and state governments alone. Neither should it always be about
workers’ wages. We need action against greedy legislators.
Professor Ishaq Akintola,Director,
Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC).
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