Following a recent meeting between the Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government and Organised Labour, significant progress has been reported regarding the ongoing nationwide strike.
Government officials, including the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, and the Minister of Labour and Employment, Simon Lalong, engaged in discussions with labour leaders to address the issues leading to the national industrial action.
Following the recent arrest of individuals involved in the attack on Joe Ajaero of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the meeting aimed to find common ground and seek resolutions. TUC President Festus Osifo, along with other labour leaders, expressed satisfaction with the discussions, highlighting that robust conversations took place.
Osifo mentioned that the government officials provided assurances, aligning with the NSA’s statement about apprehensions and an ongoing investigation. He emphasized that these promises would be taken back to their respective organizations for further consideration.
He said: “We just came here for a meeting. NSA invited us for a meeting, and as you can see, two ministers from the Ministry of Labour and Employment also participated.
“We had a lot of robust conversations where a lot of assurances were given in furtherance to the release that the NSA issued this morning, that some people had been apprehended, and that he would coordinate the investigation.
“We also told him our part of the story. At the end of the day, they made several appeals to us and several promises on what and what they are going to do and the ones they have done currently.
“We then said, let’s go back; we will re-appraise the conversations that we’ve had, and we will communicate accordingly. The strike was caused by something. The strike is a symptom of problems, so it is the problems we came here for, to have conversations on.
“With all the assurances they have given us, with the office of the NSA promising to coordinate everything, every discussion we’ve had here, we need to take it back to our organs.”