Labour Grounds Owerri Over Okorocha’s Policies

L-R: The President-General, Nigeria Union of Railway Workers (Nurw), Comrade Saidu Garba, President-General, African Railway Workers Union, Comrade Raphael Okoro and Vice President of Nurw, Comrade Orji Kalu, during Nurw, Eastern District’s thanksgiving service in Enugu, yesterday

Owerri, the capital of Imo
State, was Wednesday grounded by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), over the prolonged industrial dispute between the Imo State Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha and the Imo government workers.
The protest, which was led by the National President of NLC, Dr Ayuba Wabba, and other leaders across the country, paralysed all business activities within Owerri.
The protest was anchored on the governor’s flagrant abuse of labour laws, leading to the sack of over 5,000 workers from 19 concessioned parastatals and departments.
The protest, which took off from NLC’s secretariat at Edede Street, off Douglas Road, Owerri, terminated at Rock View by Government Round-about, Owerri, where they were addressed by the NLC President, Dr Ayuba Wabba.
In his address, Wabba made it clear that governor Okorocha had recalled the sacked workers and suspended the concessioning programme with immediate effect.
He assured that such an agreement would be monitored by labour for seven days, knowing the slippery nature of Imo governor.
The Labour’s number one officer, Comrade Wabba maintained that other negotiations surrounding the demands of NLC would still go on with the governor.
It could be recalled that the governor had earlier denied before the NLC’s president of nursing the idea of sacking workers and commercializing parastatals, only to do the opposite before travelling to Vietnam for recess.
The Tide recalls that a member of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) was recently shot while he and his colleagues were protesting the sacking of all the Medical Practictioners in every government-owned hospital, and government used some security agents to intimidate health workers in the state.
It was observed that the huge success of the protest by the workers was the joining of aviation workers making it impossible for flight movement to and fro the state.

Valentine Ndwa, Owerri