The National Union of Toad Transport Workers (NURTW) has warned the president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Joe Ajaero, cautioning him against making statements that could exacerbate tensions within the country.
The new NURTW leader, Tajudeen Agbede, conveyed this message in response to a communiqué released by the NLC following its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held in Abuja.
In the communiqué, the NLC had threatened to “commence a 2-day nationwide warning strike on Tuesday and Wednesday, the 5th and 6th of September 2023 to demonstrate our readiness for the indefinite strike later in the month and to also demand that state vacates the illegally occupied National Headquarters of the NURTW.”
However, Agbede expressed regret regarding the contents of the communiqué, stating that “it clearly showed that Comrade Ajaero and his team have lost touch with present reality in the country today or are being blindfolded by political/ethnic considerations, as this is not a perfect time for any reasonable group or person to be nursing the idea of calling out workers on strike when the majority of our people are struggling to survive.
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“I want Comrade Ajaero to realize that the duty of NLC is more than just dishing out strike threats all the time. I would advise him to start taking lessons from his predecessors (Comrades Ayuba Wabba, Adams Oshiomhole (etc) on how to run a proper trade Union organisation. The present administration of President Bola Tinubu is barely three months in office and Ajaero has threatened to go on strike on 5 different occasions. Haba! Our people in Southwest have started to read ethnic/ political meanings to NLC positions on Tinubu administration.
Concerning our union, NURTW, “we are seriously worried and disturbed by the later day interest the NLC is showing in the affairs of our union lately. The crisis we are facing today would not have aggravated to this level if the NLC had given it the necessary attention an initio (at the beginning)
” It is on record that aggrieved members and major stakeholders in our union wrote series of letters to the NLC to complain about the atrocities and highhandedness of Baruwa led executive, but NLC did not react or act on those letters. Our members were ignored.
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“If the NLC had given the letters the required attention at the initial stage, the crisis might have nipped in the bud, but the NLC failed to respond/act.”
For the Police, “I would like to commend men of the Nigeria Police for their proactive position in the Union matter. The Police have been very professional in their approach, conduct and utterances since NURTW crisis began.
“And to Baruwa, we would like to advise him to stop wasting his money and resources on a failed project, as the majority of our people have decided to move on with the Agbede-led NURTW. And of course, our members made a bold statement on Thursday at our first CWC meeting in Abuja where 80% of state councils and 5 out of the 6 zonal councils were in attendance. He should also bear it in mind that at the appropriate time, he would be called upon to render account on how he managed the union funds, especially, the money realised from the NURTW participation in the last general elections conducted by INEC.”