From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) said on Tuesday that it will confront the Imo State Governor Hope Uzodinma, headlong over his decision to proscribe labour unions in the state.
NLC said the decision of the state government is unacceptable to them and a call for disruption of industrial peace and harmony in the state.
NLC President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, who disclosed the planned unfriendly action against the Imo state government at the 7th Quadrennial National Delegates’ Conference in Abuja, said the action of the state is contrary to several labour conventions and won’t be accepted by NLC.
Wabba said: “We have observed that a lot of anti-union activities including direct attacks on workers fundamental rights have been going on lately. This is not acceptable to us. On Monday, we received sad information from Imo state.
“The information indicated that the State Governor, Hope Uzodinma, who is supposed to be democrat proscribed labour unions in the state. He did not only proscribed the unions, he went ahead to constitute a caretaker committee for all the unions. That’s undemocratic and unacceptable. The fundamental pillar of peace in the world after the first World War is ILO convention that was propagated in 1919.
“The first paragraph of the document stated that lasting peace can only be achieved through social justice and shared prosperity. Regrettably, that is lacking in our world today amidst the COVID-19. Howbeit, we will confront the Imo state governor headlong both at the national and state level.”
He appealed to workers in the state to remain calm and law-abiding, promising that the national headquarters of NLC in Abuja will take unfriendly against the governor if he fails to reverse the decision.
The NLC President, however, commended the nurses for the roles they have played so far in the fight against COVID-19 in Nigeria.
“The success of every treatment of COVID-19 case in Nigeria is dependent on nursing care being given to the patients. Nurses are basically the authorities in nursing care. They have remained frontline workers in the fight against COVID-19 and had ensured that casualties are not as much as predicted,” he said.
He, however, paid tribute to nurses who died in the fight against COVID-19. “At the last count, we were told about 800 health workers have been infected with COVID-19 and I am sure that most of them are nurses.”
