Senator Adams Oshiomhole, representing Edo North Senatorial District, has voiced his opposition to the nationwide strike called by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in response to the assault on its President, Joe Ajaero. Oshiomhole, speaking on Channels TV’s Politics Today, emphasized that the attack, while condemnable, should not be the sole reason for a countrywide work stoppage.
The former Edo State governor argued that the principle of solidarity should guide such actions, suggesting that if a state government is responsible for an offense, mobilization and targeted strikes within that state are more appropriate. He highlighted the impracticality and unfairness of asking workers in unaffected states to disrupt services in solidarity with a separate incident.
Oshiomhole stated, “Nationwide strike is not a tea party because those involved in it, they are not doing it out of fun. When you do it, you do it because you have been pushed to the wall.” While condemning the assault on the NLC president, he indicated that there are other outstanding issues that the NLC has not yet addressed, implying that a nationwide strike might not be warranted at this time.
The nationwide strike was initiated by the NLC on Tuesday, with a demand for justice regarding the assault on Joe Ajaero during the union’s protest in Imo State. The union is calling for the identification and prosecution of those responsible for the attack.
