The Deputy Chairman, Lagos State chapter of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Idogen Emmanuel, at the weekend, gave reasons why the body did not embark on industrial action over the sudden removal of fuel subsidy by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Emmanuel, who hails from Ubiaja, headquarters of Esan South-East Local Government Area of Edo State, gave the hint while speaking to journalists in Benin City.
The trade unionists explained that at first, the union did not believe that there was anything like a subsidy, but after finding out that Nigeria petroleum marketers took the products to African countries like Cameroon, Benin Republic, Togo, Ghana and up to Senegal and made more money, the union decided to back down.
He observed that the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), in calling out workers for the suspended strike action did not follow due process, as it ought to have given the government a mandatory 14-day strike notice and taken other steps including a three-day warning strike.
“This was not done. That was why we decided to rescind our decision to embark on strike. This was why we also asked all the stakeholders to go back to draw a plan since the minimum wage will not benefit every common man on the streets.”
Emmanuel disclosed that other holistic measures were being considered such as Mass Transit Buses, as well as ploughing funds into education, health and agriculture sectors to boost learning, well-being and food sufficiency in the country.
The Lagos TUC deputy chairman also disclosed that he was in the Edo State to pick the intent form to contest September 19, 2023, Local Government Elections in the state for the position of chairmanship on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
He said he decided to contest for the office because Esan South-East Local Government Area had over the years been “politically rapped” by past administrators who governed the council.
“Ubiaja has been headquarters for a long time even before the creation of more LGAs in 1991 and 1996 by Gen. Ibrahim Babangida and Gen. Sanni Abacha, respectively but there is nothing to show”, Idogen explained and recalled how 12 Years ago, he had to mobilize to evacuate the heaps of refuse at the market which was already constituting health hazards in the locality.
He said if elected he would employ mechanized farming as a means of creating gainful employment in the local government area given the rich and vast arable land in the area.
“When elected, we will also look at how we can think out of the box. We have arable land in my place. So we are looking at mechanized farming as a means of creating employment and boosting the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the area”, he declared.
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