The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) president, Comrade Joe Ajaero, has been advised by the National Union of Toad Transport Workers (NURTW) not to make any utterances that could incite unrest in the nation.
This was said by Tajudeen Agbede, the newly elected NURTW leader, in response to a statement made by the NLC following its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Abuja.
The NLC threatened to “start a 2-day nationwide warning strike on Tuesday and Wednesday, September 5 and 6, 2023 to demonstrate our readiness for the indefinite strike later in the month and to also demand that state vacates the illegally occupied National Headquarters of the NURTW” in the communiqué.
Agbede expressed regret in response to the communiqué, lamenting that “from the contents of the communiqué, it clearly showed that Comrade Ajaero and his team have lost touch with present reality in the country today or are being blinded by political/ethnic considerations, as this is not the ideal time for any reasonable group or person to be nursing the idea of calling out workers on strike when the majority of our people are struggling to survive. “I want Comrade Ajaero to realize this. He should start learning from his forerunners (Comrades Ayuba Wabba, Adams Oshiomhole, etc.) on how to manage a proper trade union organization.
Ajaero has vowed to strike five times in the short three months that the current administration of President Bola Tinubu has been in power. Haba! People in the Southwest have started to see NLC opinions on the Tinubu administration as having ethnic or political connotations.
The NLC’s recent interest in the current state of events in our union, NURTW, “seriously worries and disturbs us.” If the NLC had given the situation the proper attention an initio (from the start), it would not have gotten to this level.
It is known that angry union members and significant stakeholders submitted a number of letters to the NLC to express their displeasure over the brutality and tyranny of the Baruwa-led leadership, but the NLC did not respond to or take any action on those letters. “If the NLC had given the letters the required attention at the initial stage, the crisis might have been nipped in the bud, but the NLC failed to respond/act,” one of our members wrote in response.
“I would like to commend the men of the Nigerian Police for their proactive approach in the Union matter,” the speaker said of the police. Since the beginning of the NURTW situation, the Police have been quite professional in their approach, behavior, and statements.
And as the bulk of our people have chosen to support the Agbede-led NURTW, we would like to tell Baruwa to quit squandering his money and resources on a failed initiative. And of course, on Thursday at our first CWC meeting in Abuja, where 80% of state councils and 5 out of 6 zonal councils were present, our members made a bold declaration. He should also keep in mind that, when the time came, he would be required to provide an account of how he handled the union funds, particularly the money earned through the NURTW’s participation in the most recent INEC-conducted general elections.