Minister of Labour and Employment, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, on Monday, pointed that Nigerians will suffer if the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) insists and continues with the indefinite strike.
On Monday, the Organised Labour embarked on an indefinite nationwide strike after the union failed to reach an agreement with the Federal Government over minimum wage and electricity tariff increase.
Onyejeocha, speaking in an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday said the NLC pulled out when negotiations were still ongoing.
According to her, the Federal Government is not the sole decider of a new minimum wage as it must be determined by State governments and the private sector.
She said, “Remember that when ₦18,000 minimum wage was agreed upon, certain states couldn’t pay. After that, ₦30,000 minimum wage, some states couldn’t pay as we speak. So, it’s not something you decide for people… the Federal Government does not have that power to impose.
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“We know what the issues are and we are available for discussions and we hope they will be resolved; but going to strike will take the matter to the extreme with a lot of negative implications to both our economy and the welfare of the citizens.
“If the strike continues, the citizens will suffer and they have started suffering. Our students who supposed to be taking exams have been affected because they can’t find means of transportation to exams centres.
“On the other hand there are people who can’t eat until they go to their places of work. Some people who work at Secretariat live daily on what they get from the officers there.
“On production side, we know that when activities are shut down, it will affect our economy. Businesses will definitely be affected. Social life has also been affected too. Hospitals have been affected. There are people who had been scheduled to be operated today, but the doctors can’t access their work places. Somebody might have died.”
