14th March, 2016
Abiodun Onafuye/Abeokuta
If not for the quick intervention of some leaders of labour union in Ogun State, western Nigeria, the ongoing strike in the state would have recorded its first casualty Monday morning as angry workers almost lynched one of the members of the State House of Assembly, Olayiwola Ojodu.
Ojodu, representing Abeokuta North State Constituency was said to have gone to the secretariat of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, along Abiola Way, Abeokuta to deliver a letter, inviting the union leaders for negotiation with the state government over the ongoing strike action when he was attacked and beaten to a pulp.
The faceoff between the state government and the civil servants entered week two this Monday with activities still grounded in all offices, despite government’s directive that all workers must return to their duty post Monday.
The state government, had last week released a letter signed by the Head of Service, Elder Sola Adeyemi, threatening ‘No work, no pay’ to all the striking workers, adding that they should resume this week.
Rather than heeding the directive, the workers numbering over 7,000 went trooped out Monday morning for a mega rally which crippled activities along IBB Boulevard and Kuto areas of Abeokuta metropolis.
As early as 7:00 am, workers from all the 20 local government areas of the state had assembled at the State Secretariat of the NLC for the mega rally.
The rally, which began at exactly 10:00am from the NLC Secretariat, was terminated at the Old Secretariat ground, opposite the NUJ Secretariat, Oke Ilewo, Abeokuta.
Among those who were at the rally are the state chairmen of various labour unions such as NLC Chairman, Comrade Akeem Ambali, TUC chairman, NULGE Chairman, Comrade Adetunji Ayuba, NACHP boss, Comrade Segun Oriola, among others.
The workers carried placards with boldly written messages such as ‘No Pay, No Work’, ‘We are the Government, the State belongs to us’, ‘Amosun, pay us our money’, among others.
They were chanting various unprintable songs to press home their demands from the state government.
Addressing the workers at the Old Secretariat ground, the Chairman of the Joint Negotiation Council, JNC, Comrade Abiodun Olakanmi, declared that the strike action still continue, though the government has invited them for negotiation.
According to him, “Government has invited us for negotiation, while the negotiation is on, the strike continues. In Labour law, if you are on strike and you are invited to negotiation table, your employer has the right to suspend us and call us back for the negotiation but this is not applicable here.
“While the negotiation is going on, the strike continues until you hear from us. Let me inform you that the national headquarters of the JNC is aware of this and they even issued a statement on it, it is in today’s newspapers. So, no worker should feel intimidated or threatened.”
Speaking with P.M.NEWS, Olakanmi posited that the mediation role of the State Assembly made the government to shift their ground, adding that if their requests are not met, the strike will continue.
“Let me state clearly that we have shifted ground. We had earlier said that we are not going to negotiate again with the State Government, but now, we have agreed to sit at the negotiation table with them. I know that it was the mediation of the lawmakers that made them to shift their ground, when we get to the round table, we will request for the presence of the lawmakers at the meeting,” he said.
In his remarks, the State Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Comrade Akeem Ishola Ambali, appealed to the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Suraju Ishola Adekunbi and Hon. Olayiwola Ojodu over what happened in the morning at their secretariat.
Ambali stated that the lawmaker had been a Comrade and meant well for the workers, saying his mission and intention were misinterpreted by the angry workers when he came to their secretariat to deliver a letter in the morning.
The NLC boss further advised the market men and women not to be allowed to be ‘used’ against the workers, saying that “we are the medium by which money is being circulated to the market. Any market woman who joins them in the planned rally against the labour union is ignorant.”
He corroborated the position of the JNC Chairman that the strike action still continue until a reasonable position is met, assuring workers that they will not bring anything short of success back to them.
Ambali declared that, contrary to the statement allegedly credited to the state government that the workers are minority and their strike is unpopular, “we are here to make a clear point, we are not a minority group. We are here to fight for our right and it is a won battle already.
“Our plan this morning was to storm the Governor’s office at Oke Mosan and when we received a letter inviting us for a negotiation cum several mediation from notable people within and outside the state, we decided to just let him feel the heat.
“He has told the security not to allow us to move out from the NLC secretariat, so that people will not know what is going on. Also, they thought they can intimidate us with the presence of large number of armed security men with dogs all around the area. We resisted that and moved out en masse to let the whole world know that all is not well in the state.
“We are waiting for their notice of meeting. The letter they sent to us fixed the meeting for Thursday but we said ‘No’, that the meeting should either be slated for today or tomorrow. As I’m speaking with you, we are still expecting them but that does not disturb us. The strike still continues.”