By Kamil Opeyemi
Senator Adam Oshiomhole, a former President of the Nigerian Labour Congress has accused the NLC and the Trade Union Congress of embarking on a strike that is misplaced.
Accusing the current NLC President of being driven by personal interests and political involvement, Oshiomhole, a former Governor of Edo state said rather than dissipate energy on the strike, it should be the task of the organised labour to now work for the implementation of agreements reached with government over the alleviation of poverty in the country. Oshiomhole, however, said he does not support brutalisation of any Nigerian, including the labour leader.
“Let me be clear. I do not support the brutalisation of any Nigerian. I emphasise, any Nigerian, including a journalist, including the unemployed. Of course, including labour leader,” he said. The former APC national chairperson said, based on what he termed “hierarchy of needs” and the current challenges facing Nigerians, the issue of minimum of wage should have been their concern.
“So if you mobilise private sector workers, state employees workers, local government workers, and now there is an agreement on N35,000 across the board, I want to see NLC saying there will be no sleep in any state where this is not being implemented,” he said.
Like Uzodimma, Oshiomhole suggested that the NLC president was being driven by political motives rather than the interests of the country’s workers.
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The former governor of Edo State said he would have supported NLC on the ongoing industrial action if their demands were based on the workers’ minimum wage and welfare.
“Unfortunately, this strike is not about those issues. And I think we have to be careful not to mix our political opinion with our responsibilities, because the issues confronting workers are so many that they should become the priority,” he said.
He suggested that the NLC president was supporting a candidate in the governorship election in Imo State.
“We must recognise that however hard you try, when it comes to politics, people are going to have different reasons for supporting different candidates. You have to be careful not to be seen to be doing the bidding of a particular candidate or a particular political party,” he said.