Comrade Saheed Murtala Olayinka, the Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress’s (NLC) Kwara State chapter, has ordered state employees to remain at home in observance of the statewide strike that the organization’s national leadership has called.
“It is a total strike in the state and workers have been directed to sit at home,” Olayinka stated over the phone on Tuesday morning with OBASANJO NEWS24 in Ilorin.
He clarified that “we don’t want any of the union leaders to be arrested by the authorities,” which is why there will be strategic strike monitoring.
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Public school students were ordered back, but several private schools closed and just a small number of them remained open, according to an OBASANJO NEWS24 correspondent who visited Ilorin, the state capital.
As the first day of the indefinite strike approached, employees also abandoned government workplaces.
However, differing opinions have been voiced by people in favour and opposing the strike, leading to divergent reactions.
Former state employee Afolabi Okunlola of the local government denounced the walkout and stated that rather than defying the court order, the labour movement should have pursued an appeal following the National Industrial Court’s decision or held talks with the federal government.
He clarified that the primary cause of the strike action was not the attack on the NLC president in Imo State, but rather the Federal Government’s disregard for the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that the union had signed when the gasoline subsidy was removed.
Reacting as well, Mr. Shola, a retired employee of the state broadcasting organisation, stated that given the potential negative effects of the walkout on the general populace, he would have preferred negotiation to address disputes between the two groups.
An anonymous female employee of a state ministry in Ilorin responded by saying that the strike action was required since the state and federal governments were not doing a good enough job of handling the situation.
She protested that, to the disadvantage of the system, consultants were being hired to complete tasks that should have been completed by federal workers.
The country’s labour movement’s national leadership announced the start of a statewide strike on Tuesday in response to an alleged attack on National President Joe Ajaero, who was in Imo State advocating for worker welfare.
According to a statement supporting the strike action, the NLC said that thousands of workers in the state were labelled as ghost workers and that they were due 31 months’ worth of salaries.
But during the fight for the welfare and rights of the workers, Ajaero was beaten and admitted to the state hospital.
