Senate urges labour unions to end strike

The Senate has appealed to organised labour to end its ongoing strike for the sake of Nigeria’s struggling masses. The strike was triggered by the physical attack on the NLC President, Joe Ajaero, in Imo State a week ago.

The Senate also decided to invite labour leaders to an urgent meeting to settle the dispute.

The decision followed a motion by Senator Abdul Ningi (PDP, Bauchi) on Wednesday.

The NLC and TUC started a nationwide strike on Tuesday over the assault on Ajaero in Imo State on November 1st.

Ningi’s motion, which was presented by Senate Leader Michael Opeyemi Bamidele, condemned the assault on Ajaero, calling it “unfortunate.”

He said the NLC president had the constitutional rights, as a Nigerian and Imo citizen, to join the election campaign in the state and that it was wrong to beat him up for taking part in the process.

Bamidele said, “The Senate knows that the strike, which began on November 14, 2023, is linked to the alleged attack on the NLC President during the election campaign in Imo State.

“The Senate is worried that most of the demands of the NLC are not about the welfare of the Nigerian workers but mainly about the alleged political involvement of the NLC President, who is also a native and also has a right to be part of the campaign process in Imo State.”

The lawmaker also said it was confirmed that, in fact, there was an attack on the NLC President for freely joining the political campaign in Imo as a citizen of the state.

He expressed concern that if the strike continued, Nigerians would suffer more, and it could lead to a total collapse of the economy.