Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), yesterday, paralysed business activities in South-South and South-East states, as they shut down all government offices, public schools, hospitals, banks and others, in compliance with a nationwide indefinite strike over the unresolved issue of minimum wage.
In Asaba, Delta State capital, the workers stormed the State Secretariat on Mariam Babangida Way, the Federal Secretariat and State Assembly Complex on Okpanam Road, as well as other offices in the state as early as 7:00 a.m. and locked them up.
The striking workers also stormed government-owned media houses but met the staff rendering skeletal services. At the Federal Medical Centre, Asaba, doctors and officers on salary Grade Level 15 and above were on duty attending to patients.
The Medical Director of the hospital, Dr. Victor Osiatuma, said that their focus was on emergency cases and patients on admission. Speaking shortly, the state NLC Chairman, Goodluck Ofobruku, said that the strike is indefinite, stressing that the money organised labour is demanding is realistic if the Federal Government is serious.
“We have decided to withdraw our services; we proposed N494,000; what has the government done? The newspaper allowance for a senator is N1.2 million a month. They proposed N60,000; can N60,000 pay for a bedsitter? Can it transport workers to work? They should be serious with negotiation,” he explained.
Also, the leader of the organised Labour Compliance/Enforcement Team and TUC Chairman, Delta State chapter, Martin Bolum, said that there was total compliance in the state.
The story is the same in Ebonyi, as all government offices and agencies, both federal and state, were shut down, and workers were seen stranded, following their inability to gain entrance into their various premises.
The Ebonyi State Judiciary, banks, state ministries at the Centenary City and federal ministries at Unity Square, Abakaliki, were under lock and key.
Schools that opened for learning activities earlier in the morning had to close immediately when they got the information that the strike had commenced.
Lawyers and bankers were seen stranded at the gate of the judiciary and banks located at Water Works Road, Abakaliki. Speaking to newsmen, the state Chairman of NLC, Prof. Egwu Ogisugua, said: “So far so good, our compliance to the strike is 90 per cent. The Ochi-Udo Secretariat is scanty, the Ebonyi Judiciary is under lock and key, and the banks are not functioning. Banks didn’t open to customers.”
IN Imo state, The Guardian observed that the Imo State Secretariat, situated on Port Harcourt Road, Owerri, had its gates locked. Workers who reported for duties as early as 8:00 a.m. were prevented from entering.
Other government offices, banks, and schools, including tertiary institutions and other public-owned outlets on Okigwe, Douglas, Wethdral, Mbaise, Egbu roads, as well as other parts of the city, were shut down.
IN Cross River State, The Guardian observed that government workers, who reported for work yesterday, returned home as they were not allowed access into office buildings.
The situation was not different in all the government schools, where students were seen roaming the streets of Calabar. At the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH) and General Hospital, doctors were not consulting.
Banks were also closed and customers were seen hanging around hoping for a solution to transact business. ENUGU State was not left out, as academic activities were paralysed at the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN), as the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) branch of the institution joined the nationwide indefinite strike.
Enugu State witnessed a total shutdown in government and other activities, as workers joined in the industrial action.
ALSO, in Akwa Ibom State, public institutions, banks and other government facilities were shut down. The Chairperson of the union, Sunny James, said that workers in the state will ensure total enforcement until the Federal Government meets the demands of workers on the new minimum wage.
He said: “NLC, Akwa Ibom State chapter, will ensure total compliance with the national directive on indefinite strike action. We will move around all offices in the state to enforce the directive.”
Meanwhile, government offices at different locations, including Idongesit Nkanga Secretariat, the Federal Secretariat, along Abak Road and Dakkada Secretariat, Udo Udoma Avenue, were under lock and key. EDO State also had its fair share of the strike action, as government offices and private institutions were shut, as workers complied with the strike.
The Guardian observed that local government secretariats in all the 18 local councils and other government offices were shut down, even as a special team of the NLC in the state moved around, shutting down opened offices in compliance with the strike action. While banks across the state were closed to customers, some customers patronised Point of Sale (POS) operators to carry out the financial activities.
