NLC: Strike Not About Ajaero But against Official Impunity

Tamarauemi Ebimini

The leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), yesterday, rejected the ascription of the nationwide strike the congress embarked upon in conjunction with the Trade Union Congress (TUC) as a personal agenda by NLC president, Comrade Joe Ajaero.

On the contrary, NLC said, “the arrest and protective custody” of Ajaero by the Nigeria Police, which led to multiple injuries to his body and psychology, was a state-sponsored act of terror not just against an individual but all freedom-loving Nigerians.

The strike recorded partial compliance in many parts of the country.

Relatedly, a pro-democracy group, United Action Front of Civil Society, condemned what it described as the hostile disposition of the President Bola Tinubu administration to constructive opposition and labour activism since assumption of office.

But former President of NLC, Senator Adams Oshiomhole, charged the leadership of organised labour to prioritise the welfare and rights of Nigerian workers over personal political interests, even as he opposed the idea of strike.

Nonetheless, the indefinite strike, which started yesterday, appear to have taken off on a shaky note.

Most public schools in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), for instance, as in other parts of the country, observed the strike, as the school authorities turned back students who showed up.

Newsmen gathered that following a directive from its national headquarters on strict observance of the indefinite strike, state branches of NLC and other affiliates mobilised their members as early as 8am to picket offices of institutions that tried to open for business.

A combined team of NLC and TUC officials picketed the offices of some banks and the Federal Ministry of Finance in Abuja, even as organised labour also staged a protest at the entrance gate of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) at the early hours of yesterday.

In a statement by its Head of Information and Publicity, Benson Upah, NLC said Nigerians should not succumb to the “private matter” narrative being pushed by the federal government to discredit the ongoing nationwide strike meant to protest acts of impunity and maltreatment of Nigerian workers.

Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, had accused NLC and TUC of punishing a country of over 200 million people over a personal matter involving the NLC president. Onanuga said Ajaero’s error of judgment had led to the assault on him in Owerri, Imo State, while he was planning to incite the workers in the state into a needless strike.

But the NLC scribe described the government’s position as Freudian slip and sadistic.