Strike: Details Of Meeting Between Ngige, Emefiele, NLC Emerge

Details of the recent meeting between the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) have emerged.

The convergence became imperative to avert the nationwide strike announced by NLC scheduled to take place on Wednesday.

The labour union's threat to embark on industrial action is due to the cash crunch, fuel scarcity and electricity tariff increase.

NLC stated that they would go ahead with the planned strike if the aforementioned issues are not addressed.

Responding to the threat, the NLC leadership and the management of CBN were invited by Ngige, and the meeting was held on Monday with a view to tackling the issues.

NLC members present consisted of a 10-man delegation led by its President Joe Ajaero and the General Secretary, Emmanuel Ugboaja.

CBN Governor Emefiele was accompanied by two Deputy Governors, Kingsley Obiora (Economic Policy) and Ade Shonubi (Organised Private Sector).

In his opening remark, Ngige refuted reports that his ministry did nothing to address the issues.

He stated that when he got the letter from NLC, he forwarded it to CBN Governor before travelling out of the country for an International Labour Organisation Governing Board meeting and directed the Permanent Secretary and Trade Union Services and Industrial Relations Department to follow up.

Emefiele on his part disclosed that when he received the letter, he put a call through to the NLC President to suggest steps to take to alleviate the sufferings of citizens.

According to him, he met with the NLC President and as a result, a large volume of funds was made available to the deposit money banks.

Ajaero called on the apex bank to improve their services while expressing regret at the communication gap created in the implementation of the naira redesign.

"The NLC could not have stopped CBN from taking good decisions and implementing them in the interest of the nation.

"If stakeholders were invited and briefed on the policy when the people complain, NLC would explain everything to them.

"But in this case, the CBN did it alone.

"Moreover, it is a wrong time for administering such a national policy", he said.

Ajaero added that NLC's National Executive Committee would meet on Tuesday to take a decision on the planned strike.