Gbenro Adesina
Nigerian workers have insisted on embarking on industrial action from Monday September 28, 2020 after meeting with members of the House of Representatives on Sunday until their demands are met.
The Nigerian Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress had jointly declared a nationwide strike and protests to compel the Federal Government to reverse the recent hikes in the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) and electricity tariff, which had generated nationwide criticism.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, on Sunday met with President of the NLC, Ayuba Wabba; and his TUC counterpart, Quadri Olaleye, among others.
Also at the meeting were the Deputy Majority Leader, Peter Akpatason; and Chairman, House Committee on Labour, Ali Muhammed.
The opening session began at 10:30am and ended at 10:52am. The meeting went behind closed doors and lasted almost one hour.
Emerging from the meeting, Wabba dismissed the various court rulings barring the workers from industrial action.
He said, “We have had a useful discussion with the leadership of the House of Representatives. We have shared our concerns and challenges with him (Gbajabiamila), especially the very challenges of the implication of the hike in the tariff of electricity and the (petrol) pump price. We also told him how the discussions with the Federal Government went and how the meeting was adjourned.
“He has also promised to try to intervene at his own level, to see to it that we don’t inflict more pains on Nigerians. And in the course of the discussion, we have also realised that the House of Reps has done a lot on this issue, including recommendation to government which we have shared mutually.
“But the bottom line is that we want this burden that has now been shifted to Nigerians as consumers to also be lifted so that we can have a decent life.”
