Olusola Bello
Business activities in Kaduna State have been completely paralised following the ongoing strike embarked upon by members of the Nigeria Labour Congress NLC, over the sacking of over 7000 workers and alleged plan to sack another 11,000 by the state governor, Nasir El Rufai.
The strike which started with the withdraw of services by Member of Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas workers (NUPENG) last week, now has the involvement of all the affiliate unions of the NLC. NUPENG was later joined by the Nigerian Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) on Sunday. While other members of the NLC affiliates in the state joined yesterday Monday to give total effect to their actions.
But despite this situation, the state government on Monday said it was not going back on its decision to sack workers. It however, stated that it doors are open for dialogue with the NLC if it so desired to hold dialogue with.
El-Rufai on his verified Face book page however insisted that the government would not be intimidated by the strike to shelve its plan to right size its workforce.
He said, “Kaduna State Government affirms that the conditions that compel it to rightsize are not altered by the NLC’s campaign of economic and social sabotage
NLC National President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, said at the flag-off of the action on Monday that it would run its full course unless the state government attended to the worker’s grievances.
The Nigeria Governors’ Forum on Monday appealed to the Nigeria Labour Congress to exercise calm and restraint in its engagement with the Kaduna State Government.
Chairman of the NGF, Kayode Fayemi, made the appeal on behalf of his colleagues, in a statement titled, ‘NGF Appeals for Calm in Kaduna State,’ which he signed and made available to newsmen, in Abuja.
It read in part, “The NGF calls for cautious introspection on the part of Labour as no meaningful progress of any kind has ever been achieved in an atmosphere of conflict and chaos.
“The NGF also wishes to remind the NLC that its actions could become counter-productive especially as the last year 2020, had adversely affected workers socially and economically.
.Meanwhile, as a result of the warning strike, Kaduna has been thrown into darkness by the electricity workers union, supply of petroleum product cut by NUPENG (Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers) has called on African leaders, policy, and aviation and railway workers also shut the Kaduna International Airport and the Kaduna-Abuja train service.
Meanwhile some of the resident of the state have said the strike has affected every facet of their lives. They however believe that at the end of the day, they would be better for it.
There is no water, electricity, no fuel to power generators for boreholes owners, the situation is serious.
In Zaria, there is also no water and the banks are also not operating, even those at the Ahmadu Bello University and it s environ are not spared of the effect of the strike.
The five warning could be extend to be a nationwide if after the fives the governor refused to reverse some of his decisions
