NLC’S WARNING STRIKE AND THE KADUNA CONUNDRUM

Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) five-day warning strike in Kaduna commenced on Monday, May 17, 2021. it was a good outing for labour and its supporters. Labour was able to rally-round all its affiliates and also drew support from many residents of Kaduna. NLC’s action was meant to compel Governor Nasir El-Rufai to reverse the recent mass sack of civil servants.

NLC said Mallam Nasir el-Rufai has retrenched 6000 workers. It also claimed that the government has not paid April salaries for some 20,000 workers. This convinced other labor unions to join the warning strike; at least 14 affiliated unions of the NLC joined the strike, which started from the NLC secretariat in Kaduna at 7am. They chanted solidarity songs, and displayed placards with various inscriptions.

Many Kaduna residents supported NLC because they believe Mallam is killing small businesses and destroying markets, corner shops and houses without providing quick alternatives and listening ears.

The Kaduna State government said it is retrenching workers based on redundancy, sickness, disciplinary matters and on grounds of age. And that 90% of Kaduna’s FAAC allocation goes to the workers. And, that its infrastructure development is an urban renewal project. These are valid points.

Day one of the NLC strike was a success- They shut down electricity, water, banks, motor parks, filling stations, government and private offices, all supermarkets and markets- but the common people have suffered. Kaduna’s two- trillion naira economy was hit by the strike and billions of naira have been lost to the grounding of businesses in the state.

Subsequent days may be hard for Kaduna people- especially city dwellers if a truce is not reached. Though, Governor El-Rufa’I has remained defiant, saying that the Kaduna State government “affirms that the conditions that compel it to right-size are not altered by the NLC’s campaign of economic and social sabotage.”

On the other hand, Kaduna State has never witnessed massive infrastructure development like is being done now under Governor El-Rufai. However, The irony is, come 2023, despite the massive development, many residents of Kaduna would be wary of whoever is presented by Gov. El-Rufai as a governorship candidate. The candidate will simply be on the defensive, while the opposition would be on a solid offensive. The point of debate would be: ‘The masses were not in the equation of the massive infrastructure development’. Only time will tell as political trend is always changing.

Zayyad I. Muhammad, Abuja