Following the indefinite strike action embarked upon by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) over new national minimum wage, Courts, banks and other government offices have been closed in Kaduna.
A News of Nigeria(NAN) Correspondent observed that Federal and State High Courts along with Shari’a Courts have fully complied with the NLC directive.
Banks were also closed except for ATM terminals while the Federal Secretariat ,Kawo and the state government-owned Secretariat at Independence Way were also shut down.
A civil servant who pleaded anonymity said the members of the NLC shut the gates to her work place, telling other staffers to go back home.
She urged the government to expedite action on the new minimum wage to alleviate the suffering of the masses.
Similarly, Ibrahim Yusuf, a businessman, urged NLC to accept the Federal Government’s proposal and call off the strike.
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“The labor unions are fighting for the civil servants not for us the business people; minimum wage does not concern us,all we need is for our Naira to regain its value.
“We want inflation to be reduced drastically so that people can afford to buy what we are selling and our businesses will blossom,” he said.
Meanwhile, the president of Kaduna Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (KADCCIMA) , Mr Ishaya Idi, on Monday urged the federal government to expedite action on the minimum wage.
Mr Idi also called on the government to provide other palliatives and accompanying measures including downward review of electricity tariffs. This, he said, was to effectively alleviate the suffering of ordinary Nigerians in view of the current economic hardship.
Idi, who made this known in a statement, said that the indefinite strike embarked upon by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) would cause negative repercussions on the overall economy.
“While the arguments put forward by NLC and TUC on their decision to embark on the indefinite strike are well noted, there is the need to tread with caution on account of negative repercussions on the overall economy.
“As a matter of fact, abandoning negotiations and shutting down the country will have untold hardship on all segments of the economy.
” This hard stance will also fatally impact on the survival, resilience, productive capacity and competitive advantage of the more than 39 million-strong MSMEs ecosystem,” he said.
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Idi explained that the MSMEs significantly contribute to economic stability through job and wealth creation as they account for 48 per cent of Nigeria’s GDP and 84 per cent of employment.
He called on the organised labour to sheath its sword and go back to the negotiation table while urging the three-tiers of government to implement a cost-cutting regime .
According to him, the regime should condemn, ban and severely punish any display of an inflated sense of personal importance and substantially reduce the overall cost of governance.
He advised that the regime should start with a downward review of emoluments and allowances of public office holders, cabinet officers and all Parliamentarians.
“This regime should also consider a downward review of all perks of office such as official vehicles, foreign trips and attendant estacodes among others,” he said. (NAN)
