The Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, has said Nigeria will bear the brunt if the strike by organised labour continues.
Recall that the Nigerian Labour Congress,NLC, and Trade Union Congress, TUC embarked on an indefinite strike on Monday after failing to reach an agreement with the federal government over the new minimum wage.
But speaking during an interview on Channels TV, Mrs Onyejeocha said the NLC pulled out when negotiations were ongoing.
She appealed to the labour unions to suspend the strike and return to the negotiation table.
Mrs Onyejeocha: “We know what the issues are, and we are available for discussions, and we hope they will be resolved, but going to strike will take the matter to the extreme, with a lot of negative implications to both our economy and the welfare of the citizens.
“If the strike continues, the citizens will suffer, and they have started suffering. Our students who supposed to be taking exams have been affected because they can’t find means of transportation to exam centres.
“On the other hand, there are people who can’t eat until they go to their places of work. Some people who work at the Secretariat live daily on what they get from the officers there.
“On the production side, we know that when activities are shut down, it will affect our economy. Businesses will definitely be affected. Social life has also been affected too.
“Hospitals have been affected. There are people who had been scheduled to be operated today, but the doctors can’t access their workplaces. Somebody might have died.”
The minister also dismissed allegations by the union that the government wasn’t serious with negotiations.
“Anybody can say anything. You have to say something to sell your market. You must say something to sell your opinion.
“How will they say the federal government is not serious… They worked out three times. How are we not serious? The federal government is very serious and wants to conclude negotiations on the minimum wage,” she said.
