By Egena Sunday Ode
The Federal Government has described the industrial action by the organised labour billed to commence this morning as “illegal, immoral and irresponsible.”
Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, in a statement issued Monday night accused the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) leadership and its Trade Union Congress (TUC) counterpart of abuse of power and privilege, saying that the matter for which the labour leaders are calling out workers on strike is purely personal.
Recall that the NLC President, Joe Ajaero was recently manhandled in Imo state while leading the workers in the state to protest over alleged non payment of salaries and pension allowances by the Governor Hope Uzodinma.
In reaction to the brutalization of one of their leaders, the NLC and the TUC held an emergency NEC meeting and resolved to mobilize their members to begin an industrial action from Tuesday, November 14th.
Following the threat of strike by the unions, however, a restraining order issued last week by Justice Benedict Backwash Kanyip of the National Industrial Court was secured by the Federal Government to stop the planned action.
in his statement Monday night, Onanuga argued that strike action being embarked upon by labour was an attempt to blackmail the Federal Government.
He said whatever fate befell the NLC President in Imo that fateful day was a consequence of judgement of error on the side of Ajaero, adding that it was sufficient that the Inspector General of Police had already ordered an investigation into the matter.
The statement read: “We notice with dismay the decision by the Nigerian Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress to call out workers to commence a strike action from midnight, despite a restraining order issued last week by Justice Benedict Backwash 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 decided to punish a whole country of over 200million people over a personal matter involving the NLC President, Mr. Joe Ajaero, whose error of judgment led to 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 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 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 order.
“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. “
