The Presidency has issued a warning that organised labour is causing more harm than good to the Nigerians it claims to represent.
Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, expressed this sentiment on Monday in response to the nationwide strike initiated by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), who are demanding a new national minimum wage.
In a post on his X handle, @aonanuga1956, Onanuga pointed out that the strike has prevented many sick Nigerians from accessing medical care.
He suggested that labor unions might be politicizing the strike, alleging that their members and supporters are affiliated with the opposition Labour Party (LP) and harbor grudges against President Tinubu.
He wrote, “It’s saddening that Labor could go to this extreme. But it is not surprising to perceptive minds. Labor is harming the Nigerian people they claim to be fighting for. Today, many sick Nigerians could not access medical care at government hospitals, including those with critical medical conditions.
It appears labor is playing politics by other means. Many affiliates of the two central unions, NLC and TUC, are members and supporters of the Labour Party. They logically bear ill-will and grudges against the Tinubu administration.
The issues they claim to be fighting for cannot be resolved by blackmail or sabotage and cannot even be resolved unilaterally by the Federal Government. The Labor leaders will still have to return to the negotiating table.”
In another post on X, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, criticized the labor unions for shutting down critical installations.
This followed reports that workers had shut down the national power grid, cutting off electricity nationwide.
Ajayi posted, “The report of forced shutdown of flight operations at the airports and power installations across the country by labor activists is disheartening.
NLC/TUC members who want to withdraw their services due to the declared industrial action have the right to do so. What they can’t do, however, is shut down critical national infrastructure like the power grid and other installations. That is economic sabotage.
The right to go on strike does not allow for criminal actions under any guise and assault on citizens who are going about their lawful activities.”
