Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Three days Warning strike: NULGE grounds LGs over autonomy


The Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) on Monday made good its threat to embark on a three-day warning strike to protest Senate decision to remove autonomy from Local Government Councils.


The union paralysed activities at all local governments across the federation.
The Senate had last week voted against autonomy for local government councils in its ongoing efforts to review the constitution.


Daily independentnig report says, all the 20 local governments and 37 Local Council Developments Areas (LCDAs) in Lagos State were not exempted as they remain under lock.


At Ikeja Local Government, the main gate of the council was shut while National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members, who reported for duty in their uniform, were also barred from entering the premises by the protesting workers.


An official of NULGE who spoke under condition of anonymity, said the warning strike would soon be an indefinite one if the Senate did not reconsider its decision by obeying the voice of Nigerians thy claim to represent.


He added that no amount of persuasion from the federal or state government would make them abandon the strike until autonomy is granted to the local governments across the federation.


Reports from Ilorin indicated that NULGE members in Kwara State also refused to go to work in compliance with the directive of the national leadership of their union.

In local government offices and secretariats visited in the state, none of the workers turned up, while gates and doors of offices and some entrance gates were locked.


NULGE secretary in the state, Abayomi Afolabi, expressed satisfaction at the response of workers to the directive, describing the first day of the strike as a success.


Afolabi attributed the success of the action to a multi-dimensional information dissemination approach by the union.


He however indicated that the strike might soon be called off shortly, as the leadership of the House of Representatives had waded into the matter.


Meanwhile, LG workers in Imo State have been directed to comply with the three-day warning strike initiated by the national leadership of National Union of Local Government Employee (NULGE).


Chairman of the union, A.I. Onuoha, in a statement in Owerri on Monday advised workers in the state to be actively involved in the strike.


Onuoha described the issue at stake as highly contentious and which should be redressed to avoid a possible political doom for the concerned senators, stressing that the action would make the members rethink and come back to the drawing table for review of their decision.

 Earlier in his statement, the state Public Relation Officer of NULGE, Ebem C. Njoku, said there was need for total compliance by state chapter to achieve success. Source: dailyindependentnig

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