The Comrade Ayuba Wabba led leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on Monday fulfilled its threat of shutting down Kaduna State in protest of mass sack of workers of the state civil service.
TheNewsGuru.com, TNG reports that sister unions including students and children also joined the protest.
See photos below:
Members of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on Monday morning gathered in Kaduna to protest the recent disengagement of over seven thousand civil servants at the state and local governments by the state government.
In solidarity with the protest by the NLC, aviation workers have shut down operations of Kaduna International Airport (KIA) effective Sunday midnight.
The workers, under the aegis of the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals (ANAP), and National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE), said the airport would remain shut for the period of the warning strike.
National NLC Chairman, Ayuba Wabba, during the protest, said due process was not observed in the recent disengagement of the workers from the Local Government Service, State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), and Primary Health Care Agency.
He said further that all the unions including Student Unions and pensioners are part of the protest as they are all directly affected by the disengagement of workers.
“All those that are here today are those that are directly affected. The students are here. The children of those workers that have been thrown out of their job and were not been paid, they are here with us.
“The pensioners that were not being paid are here with us. They claim that local government employees were consulted. The Local Government Employees are here today, they have issued a statement to say that statement was false.
“All leadership of public sector unions are here.
“It is only Kaduna State of all the 36 states of the Federation that threw workers out of their jobs without due consultation or compensation,” the NLC Chairman said.
Other affiliate unions including the National Union of Petroleum Employees of Nigeria (NUPENG), National Union of Electricity Employees of Nigeria (NUEE), National Union Of Textile, Tailoring and Garment Workers of Nigeria are also participating in the protest.
Labour unions began a five-day warning strike in Kaduna State on Monday.
NLC National President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, said at the flag-off of the action that it would run its full course unless the state government attended to the workers grievances.
He said the national leadership of the NLC had been informed that the grievances included the sacking of 7,000 workers from local governments in the state.
“We are also aware that in the Primary Health Care Development Agency, 1,700 workers were sacked.
“All these are happening in the face of exorbitant increment in tuition fees , high cost of living and other uncalled for actions in ministries and agencies in the state,’’ he said.
“Fuel stations, hospitals, banks, the railway, and airport, among others have been closed because we must take our destiny in our hands if the situation in Kaduna State and in Nigeria at large cannot change.
“We cannot accept the bitter pills; we are here in Kaduna today because the labour law in Nigeria says before you can declare redundancy, labour shall be consulted and we were never consulted.
`The governor said he has consulted the National Union of Local Government Employees, but the union is here with us; we want to tell the world that a lot of information from government is false.
“We have the right to protect peacefully without being intimidated or harassed.
“The governor should go after criminals, especially kidnappers and bandits terrorising the state and not workers who are earning their legitimate wages,’’ Wabba added.
A commissioner in Kaduna State who featured on a national television programme on Monday said the figure of sacked workers the NLC was quoting was incorrect.
The commissioner also said majority of retrenched workers did not have requisite qualifications to hold office and were given ample notice to upgrade their qualifications.
He said also that many of them had been trained for other jobs preparatory to their disengagement from public service.
Part of the protest was a planned march by leaders and unionists from the NLC’s office, through the streets of Kaduna to the state’s House of Assembly.
Following the commencement of the five-day strike by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) in Kaduna on Sunday, a group of youths with no defined name have come out in hundreds protesting against the strike action in solidarity with the Kaduna State government.
The NLC and its various affiliates had planned and have began its strike for five days from May 16 in Kaduna State. The strike is in response to reform plans by the state government, including the recent dismissal of workers. Various groups of state workers, including those in the electricity, health, and aviation sectors, plan to participate.
So far, the Kaduna Electricity distribution Company have taken the lead by ensuring a total blackout from 12midnight on Sunday.
Aviation workers at Kaduna International Airport (KAD) plan to withdrawal services from 00:01 May 17.
The work stoppage is unlikely to affect emergency services and COVID-19 care.
However, disruptions to routine health services at government hospitals and health facilities may occur due to understaffing.
Increased demand for care could also disrupt services at private facilities.
Disruptions to electricity supply or maintenance of electricity infrastructure are possible.
Disruptions to KIA flight operations are likely while general public transport services may also be disrupted.
State services, generally, could be impacted.
Striking workers may participate in protests near government buildings, particularly in the state capital, Kaduna.
Police will almost certainly deploy to any strike-related protest and clashes are possible if demonstrators fail to heed orders to disperse.
Workers in Ondo State on Saturday urged President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently seek the intervention of mercenaries as well as the international community to fight the insecurity ravaging the country.
While stating that Nigerians are no longer safe in their homes, the Organised Labour stressed that the country is gradually sliding into a state of anarchy.
The Chairman of the Trade Union Congress, TUC, in the state, Mrs Helen Odofin during the commemoration of the 2021 Workers’ Day Celebration in the state, emphasized that the basic responsibility of any government is the protection of lives and properties of other citizens.
Odofin opined that the level of insecurity of lives and properties in the nation has gotten to a height that one wonders if the country has not completely failed.
“We call on the Federal Government to intensify effort to stem the tide of insecurity by embracing advanced technologies in fighting insurgency. The traditional warfare method being used by our military is no longer fashionable and can never resolve the current spate of insecurity in the land. We hasten to suggest that the President of the nation should seek help from international communities without delay by way of seeking the support of mercenaries.”
On his part, the state Chairman of the Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, Sunday Adeleye said Nigerians were in confusion as to the government’s response to banditry, kidnapping and the general insecurity.
Meanwhile, the labour leaders applauded Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu’s effort in tackling insecurity in the state through his various pronouncements and actions.
They said the establishment of the state security outfit known as Amotekun Corps had lived up to expectations as security threats in the state had been reduced to the minimum.
Akeredolu who was represented by his Special Adviser on Union Matters and Special Duties, Dare Aragbaiye reiterated his administration’s continued support to the welfare of workers.
The governor who maintained that the workforce is the engine room of governance said he is working to sanitise the sector.
“We have placed a premium on sanitizing the civil service and depoliticizing the system.
The Nigeria Labour Congress says it will withdraw services from both public and private organisations in Kaduna State for five days to protest mass sack of workers by the state government.
The NLC President, Mr Ayuba Wabba made this known while addressing newsmen at end of the Central Working Committee (CWC) of the NLC on Thursday in Abuja.
Wabba said the decision to withdraw the services of workers for five days in the state would become total if the state government failed to do the needful.
He said the CWC condemned the decision of the Gov. Nasir El-Rufai to sack close to 4, 000 workers who were mostly from 23 local government areas in the state.
“The CWC has decided and also recommended to the National Executive Council that labour will withdraw all services from either public or private. When I mean all services, it means all services for all sectors of the economy for five days in the first instance.
“And where there is no remorse, it is going to be a total action because we believe that El-Rufai is not alone in this action; we believe that there is a neo-liberal forces and some governments are also part of it.
“This action is going to be total and unconditional and therefore, all unions will be issuing statements and directives to their members to take this directive seriously and that the action will go ahead, ” he said.
Wabba said that the action was taken as a last resort due to all the communications that were written on the issue to the state government and was yet to receive any attention.
He said the CWC therefore thought that workers should not be allowed to die in silence as thousands of workers who had been sacked were yet to be paid in line with the provisions of the law.
“More worrisome is the policy targeted at workers that have spent more than 30 years in service. In fact, the policy said that once you are up to 50 years in service you will be disengaged and be sent off like slave or at worse like a dog without any entitlement.
“Secondly, the letter which we have seen, indicated that their entitlement will be paid in due course and that is the same letter that was issued to those teachers that were disengaged a year ago and therefore we look at this as very serious.
”In fact, it is something every Nigerian must condemn. That is why Nigerians must back labour on this action that labour has proposed against the Kaduna state governor, ” he said.
Wabba noted that the governor violated all the known laws that regulate labour and industrial relation in Nigeria with some sort of disdain while carrying out his decision to sack the workers.
He also said the CWC condemned the conversion of workers to casuals by the Kaduna state government under the pretext of paucity of funds or drop in revenue.
“The issue of using as an excuse, the paucity of funds is also faulted because of the fact that the same state declared an excess of over N50 billion as internally generated revenue.
”We know as a matter of fact that Kaduna state is one of the states receiving fat revenue from the federation account and therefore one wonders why Kaduna state government will indulge in this anti-people and anti-workers posture and decision, “he said.
The NLC president said the CWC condemned the insecurity in the country, in particular Kaduna state, saying that the mass sack would therefore compound the security situation.
He said that the May Day would be celebrated on May 1, at the Eagle Square with only 2,000 workers instead of the 5,000 capacity with the COVID-19 protocols that would be duly observed.
”The theme for 2021 Workers Say is ”Covid-19 Pandemic, Social and Economic Challenges for Decent work, Social Protection and Welfare of the People”.
”The theme is central and captured the essence of the workers due to the fact that COVID-19 is still ravaging the countries but importantly it is also occasioned by the challenges of the economy, ” he said.
The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has suspended its earlier plans for a three-day warning strike over alleged plans by the Kano State government to revert to N18,000 minimum wage.
The strike was scheduled to begin on Thursday.
The suspension was announced by the National Deputy President of the Union, Mr Najeem Yasin while briefing newsmen on Thursday in Kano.
The labour union recalled that the State government had deducted the workers’ March salary.
According to him, the decision to suspend the strike and peaceful protest followed the agreement reached between the Kano State Government and the organised labour on Wednesday.
“The meeting was convened at the instance of Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje with the representatives of the National President of the NLC, Mr Ayuba Wabba and other labour officials.
“The state government revealed that it has no intention to go back to payment of the old N18,000 minimum wage as speculated, and reiterated its position to respect the agreement of N30,600 signed between the two parties in December 2019.
“We also agreed that the March deductions in workers’ salaries at state and Local Government levels should be refunded to workers along with the April or May salaries, depending on increase of FAAC allocation for the period.
“A committee was set up between the organised labour and the government to look into all contentious issues as presented by the labour union.
“We also resolved that all machinery for the implementation of the new minimum wage of N39,600 should be put in place for the Kano State University of Science (KUST) Wudil and Yusuf Maitama Sule Universities
“The meeting also agreed that payment of monthly pension and all the entitlements of retirees should be vested under the resolution and approval of the board of trustees of Kano State Pension Fund Trustee as provided by the 2006 pension law.
“Also, among the resolutions is that no worker or any leader should be punished/treated in a prejudicial/malicious manner as a result of partaking in the planned industrial action by the Kano State Government.
“Therefore, with the above resolutions, the three days industrial action scheduled to begin April 8, and peaceful protest on April 12, are hereby suspended by the organised labour”, he announced.
Leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on Thursday night said it won’t accede to plans by the Federal Government to fully deregulate petrol pricing because it is no longer able to sustain the subsidy regime.
TheNewsGuru.com, TNG reports that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said it will stop bearing the N120 billion monthly subsidy on the cost of petrol consumption by Nigerians.
Group Managing Director (GMD) of the NNPC Mallam Mele Kyari said the subsidy era must end.
He spoke during the ministerial briefing at the State House in Abuja.
With him were Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Timipre Sylva and Executive Secretary of the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) Dr Bello Aliyu Gusau.
TNG recalls that the minister on March 16, said in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital that petrol pricing would be fully deregulated before end of the year.
“Deregulation of PMS (petrol) has continued to elude us. We expect that this year, we will be able to achieve that,” he had said.
The NNPC boss on his part said the corporation absorbs the cost differential, which is recorded in its books.
He said while the actual cost of importation and handling charges is N234 per litre, the product sells at N162 per litre.
He said the burden had become too heavy for the NNPC to bear.
According to him, after talks with the Organised Labour, the market forces would determine prices of petroleum products.
Nigeria won’t bear burden of your inefficiency – NLC
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) President Ayuba Wabba in a reaction said the Federal Government should not pass the burden of petrol subsidy withdrawal to Nigerians.
It said Nigerians cannot bear the cost of petrol hike because they have been impoverished, adding that citizens should not be made to pay for the inefficiency of the government.
Wabba argued that an increase in the pump price of Petrol would erode the purchasing power of many Nigerians and further push them down the poverty line.
He said: “Nigerians also cannot bear it (the cost of petrol hike) because they are so impoverished that they can’t also bear the inefficiency of our system for these numbers of years.
“We are the only member of the Operation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) that is importing refined products. It is because of the inefficiency of governments – both past and present – that we are not able to fix our refineries.
“For sure, many people have been pushed below the poverty line. Not only that, anytime you increase the price of petrol, prices of goods and services will go up and not only that, the purchasing powers of many Nigerians will also be eroded. It is between the devil and the deep blue sea.
“There must be a way to make sure that Nigerians don’t suffer the consequences of what they have not bargained for. Those are the clear issues i think should come out of these conventions.
“You are aware that economies around the world – including that of Nigeria – just came out of recession and many businesses are not doing well or they have closed and many individuals, including workers, have been pushed almost to the wall.
“The consequences of fuel price hike will be so grievous, it will bring about instability, insecurity because where families can’t take care of their needs you should know also that everybody will be on their own and it will lead to some social consequences.
“We will not accept a situation where the burden will now be shifted from the government to Nigerians. We have submitted a document to point out that 159 countries still subsidise energy in this challenging period.
“Government must find means to make sure that we don’t transfer this inefficiency to the Nigerian public.
“The figure (N120b) also quoted are issues that are associated with the so – called subsidy because even how many litres we consume per day has remained a controversy. In this type of situation this is where accountability and transparency comes in.
“The policy option of continuing to impose higher pay on Nigerians is not something that can be pushed down the throat of Nigerians at this very difficult time.”
For failing to implement the Wage Act signed by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on Wednesday declared nine of the 36 state governors as ‘anti-workers’.
The NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, said one of the nine governors was using his state lawmaker, Garba Muhammad to sponsor a bill against the interests of workers.
TheNewsGuru.com, TNG reports that Muhammad represents Sabon Gari Constituency of Zaria, Kaduna State, in the House of Representatives.
Wabba spoke at the Unity Fountain, Abuja while addressing workers before they took the protest to the National Assembly complex.
Wabba wondered why some governors, who were represented during the process of negotiations refused to pay the agreed N30, 000 minimum wage.
Wabba said: “When the N30, 000 minimum wage was fixed, it was negotiated. Six governors represented the interests of the geo-political zones. We had MAN, SMSE, CCI, NECA, also on the table.
“Our demand was N66,000 – looking at the economic challenge and how the purchasing powers of Nigerian workers have dwindled, but through the process of dialogue and negotiations, including the ability to pay, on the negotiation table, we were reasonable and everybody agreed on N30, 000.
“That is how the report was submitted to Mr President. A bill went to the National Assembly, there was a public hearing and it was promulgated.
“We are then taken aback that some governors; let me mention that the governors are nine – because some of them gave us this information; they are only nine out of the 36 that are anti-workers, led by the governor of Muhammad’s home state.
“We are told and nobody has contradicted this fact, that they (lawmakers) collect N13m per month. How can he (Muhammad) say that the current minimum wage of N30, 000 is too much for the Nigerian workers?
“Can we say shame to him? We have on record that none of the legislators is ready to push this bill. The man (Muhammad) was a willing tool in the hands of politicians to push this bill that is anti – worker.
“I am sure in his family, he has workers, in his constituency, Zaria, we have workers and therefore, we have already told them to go and inform him (Muhammad) that certainly, Nigerian workers are not happy.
“He must withdraw that bill with immediate effect if he wants peace to reign in his family and in his constituency and if he wants to end well as a politician because the Nigerian workers cannot be taken for granted.”
Wabba accused a governor in the Northwest of failing to pay the entitlements of workers that were sacked.
He also accused the governor of trying to force workers who have attained the age of 50 to retire.
The labour leader added: “The governor’s next move now is that every worker that has attained the age of 50 should be retired. Is that not an abuse of office? It is an abuse of office. I have seen the circular.
“If there are people that have to retire, they are our politicians. They must also have a retirement age. Anybody above 60 should not come near politics because there is the law of diminishing returns.
“Once you are 70 we are sure there is a law of diminishing returns; it means that your capacity to be able to think, your capacity to be able to work certainly cannot take you and take Nigerians out of this quagmire. This is what we are saying and that has always been the bane of Nigerian .”