Index to Nigerian Newspapers

The Nigeria Labour Congress and sister unions on Thursday, vowed to take action against the Imo State governor of Governor Hope Uzodimma, following the brutalisation of NLC President, Joe Ajaero, in Owerri, the Imo State capital on Wednesday. This was as Uzodimma, while reacting to the Wednesday crisis on Thursday, accused the NLC President, who is an indigene of Imo State, of meddling in the state's politics. The governor accused the leader of trying to blackmail his government over non-payment of salaries, insisting that all Imo workers have been paid their due wages. The PUNCH reports that Ajaero was brutalised by policemen in Owerri, the Imo State capital on Wednesday when he went to mobilise workers for a strike. The NLC accused the state government of masterminding the attack on Ajaero, who was injured and hospitalised. But Uzodimma, on Thursday, refuted the claim while speaking to State House Correspondents in Abuja after meeting with President Bola Tinubu to receive the APC flag as the ruling party's governorship candidate for Imo State. Meanwhile, the Imo State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Declan Emelumba, on Thursday, said that those accusing the state government of having hands in Ajaero's travails were mischief makers. But the NLC, on Thursday, vowed to take action following the brutalisation of its national president, Ajaero. The union also noted that a decision would be taken following a meeting of all its organs.

The Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria counterpart have issued a 14-day nationwide strike notice to the Federal Government over the failure of the Bola Tinubu-led government to implement the agreements reached on October 2, 2023, following the removal of the subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit known as petrol. Leaders of the NLC and TUC are sad that despite organised labour's efforts to ensure industrial peace, the government seems unperturbed by the mass suffering and hardship across the country. The October 2 agreement was focused on addressing the massive suffering and the general harsh socioeconomic consequences of the ill-conceived and ill-executed IMF/World Bank-induced hike in the price of PMS and the devaluation of the naira. These dual policies have had, as we predicted, dire economic consequences for the masses and workers of Nigeria, the statement by the unions said on Thursday. Effective February 9 (tomorrow), among others, the two labour unions said, constrained by this development and recognising the urgency of the situation and the imperative of ensuring the protection and defence of the rights and dignity of Nigerian workers and citizens, the NLC and TUC hereby issue a stern ultimatum to the Federal Government to honour their part of the understanding within 14 days from tomorrow, the 9th day of February 2024.