Strike Threat: Labour Institute DG Urges Dialogue

Director-general of Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies, Ilorin, Comrade Issa Aremu, has expressed optimism that the federal government and the organised labour will embrace dialogue in averting the latest threat of strike action by the latter.

Aremu, during an interview with LEADERSHIP in Ilorin, Kwara State, said the two parties would soon find a common ground to avert the looming strike action.

He said the federal government and labour unions including Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) needed to return to what he identified as ‘rewarding negotiations and compromises’ to prevent strike action as the last resort from the organized labour.

He said the disposition of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the last few months of his inauguration as Nigeria’s president showed that “he is concerned about the plight of every Nigerian.”

Aremu added that the two ministers of Labour have also expressed their readiness to sustain the ongoing negotiations with the organised labour.

“Strikes are just the means, not the end! The end is improved welfare for working men and women at these challenging times. I know that President Tinubu is concerned about the plight of all. His quotable quote is “let the poor breath”.

“The minister of labour and employment, Simeon Lanlong and minister of state for labour and employment, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha,have also demonstrated commitment to dialogue with NLC and TUC. Strikes are therefore preventable.

“I think both the government and organiszed labour will soon find a common ground. Strike is certainly not inevitable, indeed it is preventable but through rewarding negotiations and compromises by the two parties,” Aremu said.