By Anthony Nwachukwu
Ahead the Nigeria Labour Congress; (NLC) threat of nationwide shutdown on Wednesday, President-General of the Maritime Workers’ Union of Nigeria (MWUN), Comrade Adewale Adeyanju, said the maritime labour awaits the final decision of the NLC National Executive Council holding tomorrow.
Adeyanju, who spoke on the sideline of a joint press conference by the maritime labour to condemn the secrete reintroduction of the Port and Harbour Bill by the National Assembly, described the manhandling of the NLC President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, by the Nigeria Police in Imo State as an embarrassment never known in the nation’s labour movement.
According to Adeyanju, who is also the National Vice President of the NLC, “what happened in Imo State was an embarrassment to labour movement and to the whole Nigerian workers.
“It has never happened in the history of the Nigeria Labour Congress that the leader – the No.1 worker that was democratically elected by his workers is subjected to such act of embarrassment.
“They blindfolded the old man as if he was a slave in his own state. When you are a governor who is supposed to be the state’s No.1 security officer, know that there is no permanent governor.
“They need to have at the back of their minds that they would one day become former governors, when much of this impunity they exhibit today will no longer be there. What they did in Imo State was not right. It was uncalled for.”
Concerning the threat of strike for Wednesday, he explained that part of the NLC’s demands was the removal of the Imo State Police Commissioner, adding that the Inspector-General of Police seemed to have done that already by removing the commissioner.
Nevertheless, he disclosed that the highest organ of the NLC would, between today and Wednesday, give direction on what next to do, adding: “It is a serious matter. The commissioner who ought to protect the people did not behave like a professional.
“The second demand is the welfare of workers in the state, where salaries, pensions and gratuities have not been paid for about 20 months. It is what the labour movement is talking about. It is not about Ajaero, it is about the fundamental human rights of all the workers in that state.
“For Ajaero who is from the state, it is about charity beginning at home. So, nobody should blame him. He could have said, ‘well, what is my business?’ It is about the welfare of workers in the state who cannot express themselves because the governor has padlocked their mouths in their suffering.
“No one is safe in Imo State, not even the journalists who are being harassed with handcuffs on their hands. Going to Imo State now is like a dog going to a lion’s den because of their governor.”
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