The Minister of Employment, Labour and Productivity, Dr Hassan Muhammad Lawal, has cautioned the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and civil society groups against embarking on the November 16, 2004 planned strike, saying it has the potential to cause chaos and anarchy in the country.
The coalition of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the civil society groups have declared that the second phase of the sit-at-home protests against the recent increases in the prices of pet-roleum products will commence on November 16, 2004.
Speaking to newsmen shortly after the opening ceremony of the National Productivity Day (NPD) Symposium in Abuja yesterday, Dr Lawal said that the planned strike by the NLC and its allies would only expose Nigerians to greater hardship.
According to him, the federal government has shifted grounds by implementing some of the recommendations of the independent consolidated committee set up to explore measures to cushion the effects of the recent hike in the prices of petroleum products and that the NLC should also shift grounds in the spirit of fair play.
He said that the federal government will continue to dialogue with the organised labour in order to address the restiveness and agitations in the country once and for all.
He therefore appealed to the NLC and other civil society group to, as a matter of necessity, shelve the proposed strike action, as according to him, strike is never known to solve any problem in the world.
Dr Lawal also spoke on the need to promote productivity and service delivery in the workplace so as to ensure speedy growth of the nation’s economy.
“It is a common knowledge that productivity is essential to socio-economic growth and political stability. As a major variable for determining real economic growth and development, productivity remains a significant phenomenon which revolves around entire human existence and a pivot around which the over-all well-being of a country and her citizens rotate.
“This administration is fully aware that an unproductive nation is an economically backward nation. It is also aware that this period of time when employment opportunities are few, it will be unwise not to add-ress squarely and frontally the issue of productivity and better service delivery on which the nation’s economic growth, employment generation and social well-being depend,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) yesterday called on Nigerians to support the November 16 second phase of the NLC/Civil Society Organisation strike action.
The CNPP noted in a statement by its secretary general, Maxi Okwu in Abuja that the strike became necessary because government has not shown commitment to resolving the fuel price hike.
“With the complete disregard of the recommendations of the amorphous 40-men Ibrahim Mantu-led committee, General Obasanjo regime has confirmed our earlier suspicions. That is, that the comm-ittee all along was another dummy sold to less discerning Nigerians,” the CNPP declared.
According to Maxi Okwu, the plans by government to use N10.8 billion package to ameliorate the situation was totally “contemptuous of the powers of the nation under section 80 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999.”
He said the amount was not appropriated in the 2004 Appropriation Act, adding that it was also not proposed in this year’s budget “neither is there any mention of an intention to submit a supple-mentary appropriation Bill.”
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