The Nigerian Civil Society Forum on Thursday warned the leadership of organised labour not to betray the trust of the masses by using its planned two-day protest to strike a deal with the Federal Government.
The warning comes barely 24 hours after the Department of State Services appealed to labour leaders to shelve the mass action, saying it has a premonition the protest could be hijacked.
The Nigeria Labour Congress had on February 16 declared a two-day protest that would begin after the expiration of the 14-day ultimatum it issued to the Federal Government, which expires on February 22..
Addressing a press conference in Abuja, the convener of the group, Dr Godwin Abutu, expressed concern that organised labour in the country has grown a reputation for disappointing the masses over the years.
Abutu also lampooned state governors for not complementing the efforts of the FG despite all the huge subsidy allocations given to them.
He said, “It has become imperative for us to react to recent threats by labour to embark on warning strike. The unionists who conveyed the laughable threats through NLC President, Joe Ajaero, at the NEC meeting raised lame excuse that Nigerians are hungry and they won’t condone it any longer.
“This is the same NLC/TUC that had made Nigerian workers to lose hope having sold out in all their negotiations with government since the time of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole-led NLC.
“It is common knowledge that embarking on strike actions has not resolved any problem faced by the Nigerian masses. We are once again concerned that these groups (labour) may use their threats of warning strike to collect gratifications from the FG and betray the people as usual.
“Sadly too, many state governors, instead of standing with the people, are busy embezzling the palliatives meant for the masses. Yet, the NLC/TUC chapters in those states as usual did nothing.
“About 24 hours ago, we watched with amazement how the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, announced that each state governor was given N30bn to subsidise food items to reduce the effect of hunger in the land. We are yet to see any of them take action yet.”
In a related development, the Federal Government has urged the leadership of NLC to exercise restraint on its proposed strike.
This was disclosed by the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Idris Mohammed, in a phone chat with The PUNCH.
The minister gave an assurance that it has started implementing many of the 16-point demands raised by Labour.
He said, “FG is implementing all the agreements reached with labour. Some had immediate effect while others, such as the committee to review wages, were meant to start but to be implemented by early April.”
