Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigerians who saw their businesses and activities halted by a power outage on Wednesday are now beginning to experience ease on Thursday as the industrial action embarked upon by members of the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) has been suspended.
The agreement to stop the action followed a meeting between the Minister of Labour and Employment, Mr Chris Ngige, and the leaders of the union.
Yesterday, the nation was plunged into darkness after the labour union shut down the power supply across the country. After the gathering, the energy distribution companies (Discos) across Nigeria started the process to restore electricity to their customers.
A statement from the Head of Press and Public Relations of the ministry stated that, “The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, has apprehended the strike embarked upon by the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) following an emergency meeting between the union, government, and other stakeholders, at the instance of the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige.”
It was also revealed that the Minister set up a committee to negotiate the issues affecting the workers and look at possible solutions.
“Dr Ngige set up a tripartite committee to look into the grievances of electricity workers towards addressing them,” a part of the statement said.
It added that the union’s secretary general, Mr Joe Ajaero, has “assured the minister that all necessary steps would be taken to restore the supply of electricity to the country immediately.”
Nigerians have since vented their frustrations at the government for allowing the strike to take place before making a move.
