As the industrial unrest between Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and Kaduna state Government entered into its second day, Tuesday, the Progressive Governor’s Forum has urged labour and the Kaduna state government to find a common ground.
It would be recalled that the NLC was forced to call for strike action against the sacking of civil servants in the services of Kaduna state.
Worried by the dimension the protest was taking, the Progressive Governor’s Forum, has decided to wade into the industrial face up necessitated by the sacking of over 31,000 workers in the state.
The forum noted that with all the challenges facing all states of the federation, especially the dwindling revenue, hence the need for NLC and the Kaduna state government to return to the negotiation table in the interest of the masses.
Thus therefore, the forum called on the NLC to demonstrate more commitment toward engaging governments at all levels to address problems, advising that this is not the time for muscle flexing.
This was contained in a statement signed by the Chairman of the forum and governor of Kebbi state, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu.
While he advised the warring Labour and Kaduna state governor to see reasons and apply wisdom in their positions, the forum stated that Nigerians are already overstretched with many challenges.
One person suspected to be hired thug, reportedly lost his life on Monday as a group of persons said to be opposed to the labour action which smoothly kicked off on Monday accosted irate workers and their leaders, with the intention to disrupt the protest.
According to sources, trouble started when suspected group of anti-labour protesters, who mobilized themselves with stones and sticks ready for a showdown, started throwing missiles to the harmless unionists waiting to take off for their protest.
Governor Bagudu further said: “at this critical point of our democratic journey, there cannot be limits to engagement between all governments and citizens. Every step must be therefore taken to resolve the current faceup between Kaduna State Government and NLC.
“We appeal to both the State Government and NLC to return to the negotiating table. In particular, we want to appeal to the NLC leadership to recognise that the burden of leadership at this point is more about responding to challenges based on the honest disposition of correcting past mistakes.
“As Progressive Governors, we share the vision of Kaduna State Government of reforming all our Local Governments to make them more efficient and consequently the pivot of critical development initiatives. At the same time, we want to appeal to Kaduna State Government under the leadership of our colleague, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai to take all the necessary step to ensure the resolution all disagreements in the larger interest of citizens in Kaduna State.
“We are confident that both Kaduna State Government and NLC will resolve all outstanding issues and restore industrial harmony in Kaduna State”, the concerned Governors said.
