₦70,000 Transport Allowance: Labour veterans wade into crisis between NLC, TUC

By Johnbosco Agbakwuru ABUJA — Labour veterans from the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) have intervened in the face-off between the President of the NLC, Comrade Joe Ajaero, and the TUC President, Comrade Festus Osifo. The two labour leaders have recently traded words over the recent approval of ₦70,000 by the Federal Government to cushion the effect of high transportation costs occasioned by the removal of fuel subsidy.

The rift between the two leaders degenerated into personal attacks on national television, a situation that has affected unity within the labour sector. Worried by the development, labour veterans met to bring the situation under control. Speaking on Wednesday in Abuja at the 52nd session of the National Executive Council (NEC) of the Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN), Comrade Wabba said the labour veterans had been able to arrest any form of hostility between the two leaders.

The former NLC President told journalists that veterans from the two labour centres had met to resolve what he described as a family misunderstanding between the two centres. He said the veterans emphasised that workers’ organisations must remain united because they share a single objective and aim. The former President of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) said all hostilities had been ordered to stop, explaining that the goal is to prevent future occurrences through formal dialogue.

He said: “It’s a family misunderstanding between the two centres, and we have made it clear that workers’ organisations are supposed to be one because the objective is one and the aim is one. “So, that seeming misunderstanding has escalated, and we have said all hostilities should stop. We will actually try to meet with them to see what happened and how future occurrences can also be prevented.

“So, basically, I can tell you for sure that veterans from both sides—TUC and NLC—namely Peter Esele, Bobboi Kaigama, Hassan Sunmonu, Abdulwaheed Omar, and my humble self, actually met and tried to look at the issue. We said we would meet formally when all of them are available because we just communicated among ourselves, the veterans, and we communicated with them, and they mutually accepted.

“The TUC General Secretary was here; I was here; the NLC President was here. All of us embraced ourselves and said, ‘Well, it’s a family issue.’ Therefore, we have also said members of the press should not actually try to advance issues that are not there because, even in your immediate family, you can have some internal issues. “But that internal issue is certainly meant to be resolved, and we are working towards that very effectively because that is the hallmark of trade unionism: to resolve issues, even with our employers, through dialogue and social dialogue.

So, basically, it is an issue we have practised, and therefore we will try to now put it into action.” The former NLC President said some of the protagonists in the matter had travelled, adding that once they returned, “we will be able to have that platform to address the issue.” “But for the meantime, we said we don’t see the necessity of further talking to the press because that, in itself, does not bring any solution.” Speaking earlier, the NLC President, Comrade Ajaero, said the agreed ₦70,000 transport intervention had become secured for workers and that, when discussions for a new minimum wage begin, the money would form part of what would be added.