Very early on Tuesday morning, power supply to residents of Kogi state was shutdown. This was to signal the commencement of a two-day warning strike embarked upon by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).
Speaking with newsmen in Lokoja, the Vice Chairman of NLC in Kogi, Comrade Eleojo Opaluwa, expressed his satisfaction with the level of compliance by the workers in the state.
Opaluwa, who is a member of National Union of Electricity Employees of Nigeria (NUEE) in Kogi, said the supply of electricity had been shut down in the whole of Kogi State.
“We are happy that the two-day national warning strike witnessed a total compliance in Lokoja, and the entire 21 local government areas of Kogi State.
“As I am talking to you now, I am sure you don’t have electricity supply in your house because it has been shut down across the state.
“Even the supply to the Kogi State Government House has been shutdown, so, if Government House electricity could be shutdown, then the warning strike has witnessed 100 per cent in Kogi.
“We have moved round the MDAs and even banks and other organizations; we are glad to inform you that the day one of the warning strike experienced huge success,” Opaluwa said.
A visit to the State Secretariat, a place that used to be a beehive of several activities, showed high compliance by workers in Kogi state. The Secretariat was very scanty, while few workers on ground were seeing gathering in clusters under the trees discussing.
A staff of the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, Mr Abubakar Omeiza, said the warning strike was a welcome development which is long overdue.
He commended the NLC leadership in Kogi for delegating Monitoring and Enforcement team to monitor the strike to ensure total compliance in the state.
“The NLC team came to the state secretariat this morning to ensure total compliance, and we are happy with that action.
“The governments must rise up to their core responsibilities because we cannot continue like this. The hardships have gone beyond control,” Omeiza said.
Another staff from the Kogi State Environmental Sanition Board, Mrs Joyce Ameh, told NAN that they were observing the strike, saying 90 per cent of their staff did not come to work today.
“The fuel subsidy removal is hitting hard on us, we have been spending almost 80 per cent of our salaries on transportation since the subsidy removal on May 29.
“We are appealing to the Federal and State Governments to listen to the cry of NLC and do the needful very urgent,” Ameh said.
