Organised Labour, comprising the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and their affiliates, have kicked off the first day of the planned nationwide strike with a show of force by shutting down the national grid, thereby plunging the entire nation into darkness.
The blackout, according to sources in Labour, is to underline the seriousness it attaches to the strike and to remove all doubts about its objective to force government and employers of labour at all levels to accede to its demand for a living wage for workers.
RovingNaija News had earlier reported last Friday, that Labour walked out on the multi-sectoral negotiation team constituted by the Federal Government, which finally proposed a minimum wage of N60,000 (Sixty Thousand Naira) for the least paid worker while Labour asked for N497,000 (Four Hundred and Ninety Seven Thousand Naira).
Following the development, the Organised Labour subsequently announced plans for an indefinite nationwide strike to commence on Monday 3rd, June to press home it’s demands that government should pass a new minimum wage act.
In justifying its demand for a higher wage, Labour insisted that the removal of fuel subsidy (which shut up the pump price of a litre of petrol from N198 to between N670-700) hike in electricity tariff, galloping inflation, and general high cost of consumer goods among others, has made any living wage that fails to take into account the current inflationary rate, unrealistic.
Among others, Organised Labour also suggests that Nigerians are at their wit’s ends trying to rationalise Government’s reluctance to pay a living wage to hapless workers, when politicians and government appointees daily bask in obscene opulence while the rest of the nation gawks at the misfortune that has become their lot.
Sensing the seriousness underlying Labour’s threat to embark on the nationwide strike, the leadership of the National Assembly also made a last ditch effort for another round of rapprochement with Labour but the meeting, which lasted from Sunday into the wee hours of Monday, again failed to yield any positive fruit.
And then, against all odds, the strike commenced Monday morning with the total shutdown of power supply to consumers nationwide as confirmed by the Transmission Company of Nigeria.
According to TCN, in a statement by Ndidi MBA, GM, Public Affairs, the Labour Union has shut down the national grid, resulting in black out nationwide. The national grid shut down occured at about 2.19am this morning, 3rd June 2024.
TCN further provided insight into Labour’s interference with power supply:
“At about 1:15am this morning, the Benin Transmission Operator under the Independent System Operations unit of TCN reported that all operators were driven away from the control room and that staff that resisted were beaten while some were wounded in the course of forcing them out of the control room and without any form of control or supervision, the Benin Area Control Center was brought to zero.
This did not happen in Benin Area Control Centre alone, other were not spared:
“Other transmission substations that were shut down, by the Labour Union include the Ganmo, Benin, Ayede, Olorunsogo, Akangba and Osogbo Transmission Substations. Some transmission lines were equally opened due to the ongoing activities of the labour union.
“On the power generating side, power generating units from different generating stations were forced to shut down some units of their generating plants, the Jebba Generating Station was forced to shut down one of its generating units while three others in the same substation subsequently shut down on very high frequency. The sudden forced load cuts led to high frequency and system instability, which eventually shut down the national grid at 2:19am.
“At about 3.23am, however, TCN commenced grid recovery, using the Shiroro Substation to attempt to feed the transmission lines supplying bulk electricity to the Katampe Transmission Substation. The situation is such that the Labour Union is still obstructing grid recovery nationwide.
“We will continue to make effort to recover and stabilize the grid to enable the restoration of normal bulk transmission of electricity to distribution load centres nationwide,” TCN said.
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