The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has threatened to mobilize all workers against the Government of Rivers State led by Governor Nyesom Wike over alleged ill-treatment and harassment of workers in the state.
NLC President Ayuba Wabba, issued this threat while making his remarks during the 6th Triennial National Delegates Congress of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), in Abuja on Thursday, stressing that no government or employer would be allowed to trample on the rights of workers in the country.
He condemned the alleged use of thugs by the Governor to attack a meeting of workers in Rivers state even as he accused the governor of owing backlog of pension and gratuity of workers in the state coupled with his intimidating tactic to deny the workers their rights.
He said: “Because the workers gathered to try to engage him on these issues he sent thugs to attack them. He (Wike ) has not paid gratuity from 2015 to date, no worker that retired in Rivers has been paid gratuity, no promotion has been done to any worker in Rivers from 2015 to date and lastly no annual increase.
“Any government or employer that will trample on the rights of workers, all of us will turn in unity to defend these workers to whatever extent. NLC is ready to partner with the PENGASSAN and TUC to defend those rights.
“We are making it formally that Nigerian workers will look at the issues if it means moving down to Rivers let him kill all of us.”
Speaking on the theme of the conference: “The Future of Work Post Covid-19 and Energy Transition” the NLC President lamented that the current global economic model has only concentrated greater per cent of the global wealth in the hands of just 1% of the extremely rich, while more than 90% is extremely poor, stressing that “in this context there is need for social justice.”
He said further that “Wealth has more than tripled but poverty has also become pervasive and that is why insecurity has become the order of the day in many countries around the world”. He also expressed concern that 80% of workers in Africa have no social security cover.
Wabba, lauded PENGASSAN for its very strategic role in the economic development of Nigeria and its collaboration with the NLC, in the pursuit of prosperity for the Nigerian people and to the entire Nigerian workforce especially during the struggle for the realization of the June 12 mandate.
He, again, rejected the planned concession of the Nigeria’s viable airports. He emphasized the labour movement will continue to resist such policy because it will put those national assets in the hands of friends and cronies of government to the detriment of the people.
The occasion was graced by President Muhammadu Buhari, who was represented by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Silva; Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, William Alo; Group Managing Director (GMD)of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari, who chaired the occasion among others.
