By Adedapo Adesanya
The nationwide strike declared by the organised labour unions in the country is taking its toll on economic activities, as most businesses are affected by the action.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday morning, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) shared circulars by the unions, indicating their compliance with the directive.
The unions included the National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions Employees (NUBIFIE), the Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria, and the Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Polytechnics (SSANIP).
Others are the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), the National Union of Food Beverage and Tobacco Employees, the Maritime Workers’ Union of Nigeria (MWUN), the National Union of Electricity Employees, and the Nigeria Union of Railway Workers.
Electricity workers have indicated interest in joining following directives of the NLC to withdraw their services around 11:20 a.m on Monday, leading to a nationwide blackout.
Recall that labour announced a nationwide indefinite strike starting Tuesday despite a court order restraining the unions from doing so.
Reacting to the development, the Presidency, in a statement by Mr Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information & Strategy, said the strike action by unions was a flagrant disobedience to court order and a lack of respect for the judiciary.
Accordingly, the government expressed displeasure that the nation’s economy and social activities should not suffer because of the personal interest of any labour leader.
The unions last week issued a nationwide strike notice over an assault on Mr Joe Ajaero, the President of NLC, on November 1, 2023, in Imo State.
Business Post gathered that while some areas have not faced the power outage, some other places, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) are experiencing it as a normal period of electricity has not been provided since this morning.
