With the proposed reduction in work force by some state government in the face of biting economic difficulties, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has vowed to declare a nationwide strike in January if any state governor announces the sack of workers.
This stand was made known to newsmen by the President of NLC, Comrade Ayuba Wabba in an interview he granted to daily sun. He said workers across the country were prepared for a showdown with the governors most of whom he accused of being indifferent to workers’ plight and welfare.
‘’We say enough is enough. Why must these people think they will continue to make workers the sacrificial lamb. Instead of our governors to look inward, and think of how to improve their Internaly Generated Revenue base and also block series of loopholes through which public funds are looted,they now want to make workers scapegoat,this is not possible,we are going to resist it’’, he declared. Wabba also insisted that any attempt by the governors to reduce or tamper with the N18,000 will be resisted.
He advised governors to cut down cost of governance which he claimed was big burden on the state treasuries, Wabba, however, said that workers will be left with no other alternative than to fight if the governors failed to listen to the voice of reason.
“Governors should prepare for mother of all battles. They should not underestimate the resolve of the NLC to protect the interest of Nigerian workers. We will shut down government in any state where the governor stops payment of N18,000 minimum wage. Governors should prepare for mother of all battles. What is N18,000 that these governors say they can’t pay. Some of them spend more than N100,000 to feed their dogs, lions and other pets they keep monthly. If they can feed animals with N100,000 and above, why can’t they pay their fellow human beings, an average Nigerian worker N18,000 monthly. It is an insult, we are not going to take it,” Wabba declared.
-Emmanuel Ikechukwu
