Stop threatening Labour Minister, northern group cautions NLC

The Northern Obidients Youth Assembly (NOYA) has cautioned the Ajaero-led Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to desist from threatening the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, and other officials of the Ministry after they were cautioned against meddling in political party affairs.

A recent letter signed by the Director/Registrar of Trade Unions, Falonipe Amos, on behalf of the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, had advised the NLC to avoid interfering in the affairs of the Labour Party and other political parties and to strictly adhere to the Act that established both.

Unhappy with this development, the National Executive Council (NEC) of the NLC, in a communiqué issued at the end of its meeting on August 7, called on the federal government to caution the Minister of Labour and its officials against interfering in their political rights.

The communiqué reads in part: “The NEC – in – Session calls on the federal government to restrain its officials, especially the Minister of Labour and the Registrar of Trade Unions, from colluding with retrogressive political elements seeking to abridge our rights as workers and trade unions to political participation.

“We demand the immediate withdrawal of that intrusive and misplaced unsolicited advice from the Registrar of Trade Unions to avert an industrial crisis, as the Congress and its affiliates will stop recognizing and relating with him.”

In response, Hussaini Murkhtar, Coordinator of the Northern Obidients Youth Assembly, warned the NLC to refrain from threatening and distracting the Minister of State for Labour and Employment and the Ministry’s officials.

He advised the Ajaero-led NLC to emulate the TUC, which has conducted itself in a professional and productive manner.

The Youth Assembly questioned why a respected organization like the NLC would operate outside the Act that established it and choose to be defiant when corrected.

“I believe that the NLC should focus on obeying the laws of the land and acting in line with the Act that established it, rather than threatening a serving ministry,” Murkhtar said.

“This is an act of hooliganism and thuggery and should be condemned by all well-meaning Nigerians.

The NLC has a mandate to protect the welfare of workers, but in recent times, it has lost focus and become more interested in politics.”

Murkhtar also pointed out that the Ajaero-led NLC now spends more time meddling in political party affairs than negotiating with the government for better worker welfare, contributing to the recent impoverishment of Nigerian workers.

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The NOYA Coordinator stated that they will resist any attempt by political jobbers to use the NLC to destabilize any political party in Nigeria, especially the Labour Party.

Murkhtar accused the NLC of being willing to act as a tool to silence opposition parties and pave the way for a one-party state.

“We will not allow the NLC to be used as a tool to truncate democracy and impose a one-party state. This will not be accepted, and we will mobilize Nigerians to resist this agenda.

“The NLC should allow the Minister of State for Labour and Employment and other government agencies to do the job the President appointed them to do.

We encourage the NLC to learn from the exemplary leadership of the TUC and to act within the laws of the country and the Act that established it,” Murkhtar said.

He also called on Nigerians to remain vigilant and ensure that no group or individuals are used by unscrupulous politicians to undermine the country’s democracy or push for an unjust change of government.

NIGERIAN TRIBUNE