Staff of the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs on Wednesday, September 10, locked out the Minister, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, in Abuja over what they described as prolonged neglect and poor welfare conditions.
The protesting workers, in their numbers, blocked the entrance gates of the Ministry located in the Central Area, chanting solidarity songs and calling for her removal.
According to them, several attempts to engage the Minister on issues affecting their welfare had failed, leaving them with no option but to embark on the protest.
“The Minister was deployed to the Ministry in October last year, and since then, she has not had any meeting with the workers nor the unions,” one staff member told journalists.
“After several efforts, she fixed a meeting with the unions and staff on Wednesday, and we were glad. Every staff member, including the Permanent Secretary and all the Directors, were seated since morning waiting for the Minister.
“We waited for the Minister for about four hours, because we were told she was returning from a trip. Surprisingly, she snubbed us when she arrived. She never said ‘hello’ to us nor even apologised for keeping us waiting for several hours. Rather, she gave us silent treatment and went to her office. We waited patiently for about an hour for her to come down, but she never did. That made us express our grievances,” the staff member added.
According to Daily Sun, Union leaders also accused Sulaiman-Ibrahim of failing to provide basic working tools and welfare support.
“In fact, the immediate-past Minister, Uju Ohanenye, is far better than her,” said Alake Success, one of the union leaders. “In our Ministry, there are no working tools, statutory welfare, training, and several other issues.
“We don’t see the usefulness of the overhead allocation to the Ministry. The Minister and her over 25 aides use the money. We use our personal funds to work for the Ministry. Cleaners are no longer in the Ministry. We clean the toilets ourselves; we buy stationery ourselves.”
He further disclosed that even the Permanent Secretary had confirmed making efforts to draw the Minister’s attention to staff concerns without positive response.
As of press time, the gates of the Ministry remained locked, while the Minister was yet to address the aggrieved workers or respond to the allegations.
