The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Mr. Joe Ajaero, on Monday, said that no governor has the authority to ban labour unions, emphasizing that union activities are governed by the executive legislative list in the Constitution.
He also criticized the growing trend of governors residing permanently in Abuja at the expense of their states.
Ajaero made these remarks while responding to the ban on labour unions in state-owned tertiary institutions by former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, during a town hall meeting with workers at the NLC Secretariat in Lokoja, the state capital.
He said, “Let me say here, union practice falls under the exclusive legislative list in the Constitution. No governor has the power to ban them, you don’t ban what you don’t have control over.
“Unions are registered nationally by the Registrar of Trade Unions. For administrative convenience, they may choose to have branches in states, so what are you now banning?”
The NLC president, surprised by the existence of such a measure in the state, asserted that the state government had no authority to proscribe unions under the exclusive legislative list.
He lamented that many governors abandon their states to reside permanently in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, leaving their citizens to struggle with hardship. Ajaero stated that the NLC leadership was in Kogi State to deliver and inaugurate 10 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses for the state chapter of the congress to alleviate transportation challenges.
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Noting that the leadership had visited five zones, Ajaero expressed regret that governors were frequently absent, often traveling to Abuja.
Emphasizing the economic strain on workers due to the soaring cost of living, he criticized the government’s consideration of a telecom tariff hike, warning that such a move would push workers to their limits.
He assured that the leadership would present workers’ concerns and demands to the governor, adding that in only one of the five zones visited was a governor present.
Ajaero said, “However, there is a problem we are having in trends because most governors are now living permanently in Abuja. We have moved to about five zones, Kogi is about the fifth zone. We have met governors in only one state. Each time you go there, they are in Abuja and this is affecting governance.
“I think we should be able to manage the centre and the units, so people will have the feeling of democracy, the dividend of democracy so that people can talk to their leaders.
“So, if we capture all these things, the information you are going to give us will be conditional if the governor is around. If he’s around, we will convey your information to him. If he’s not around, whosoever he’s going to send, we pass it to him.”
He stated that Kogi State held strategic importance to the congress, as both the governor and deputy governor were former union leaders.
He added that Governor Usman Ododo had served as one of his officials in Niger State, while the deputy governor was an official of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT).
He said, “So, we want to make this as a town hall meeting to listen to you to know what has been done and what has not been done properly, so we take it to them.
“To us, it is like homecoming. We want to come and interact with them to find out whether they are doing those things we are criticising others for.”
Earlier, the workers informed the NLC President that, for over a decade, unions in Kogi State Polytechnics, Kogi State University, and the State Colleges of Education, Technology, and Nursing had been banned by the state government.
Additionally, they sought the NLC’s intervention on several issues, including the non-implementation of annual salary increases, lack of housing for workers, and a shortage of teachers in primary and junior secondary schools, among others.
(Punch)
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