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Friday, March 29, 2024

How Okowa Deceived NLC In Delta

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In a bid to put the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Delta State chapter who protested to Government House to register their grievances away, the Delta State governor Senator (Dr) Ifeanyi Okowa has belittled them by refusing to appear before the workforce from different unions that make up NLC with flimsy accuse of attending a security meeting.

The governor who was represented by the Chief of Staff, Government House, Mr. Tam Bresibe, lied to the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress when he told them at the gate of Government House that the governor was in a serious security meeting.

He said, “the reason the governor did not come to address you immediately he heard that you were at the gate, was because right now he is having a security meeting with some officials and that is the only reason why he is not here to talk to you himself. We waited if we could take some time for him to come to address you”.

However, the leadership of NLC slammed Okowa for ignoring and keeping them under the scourging sun for over two hours before sending a representative to address them just as they accused the governor of wanting to jettison the protest which was not directed at his government but against the federal government.

Addressing the governor, the first Vice chairman of NLC in the state, Mr. Jonathan Jemirieyigbe, who spoke on behalf of the state chairman, David Ofoayeno, informed the governor that the protest was as a result of the recent hike in the pump price of fuel from N86. 00 to N145. 00 and the increase in electricity tariff.

“The fact that the epileptic power supply do not warrant any increase for now but the federal government went ahead and increased the electricity tariff. As if that pain is not enough on Nigerians, they went again and their Maradonic manner to increase the fuel price from N86. 00 to N145. 00 and so the Nigerian Labour Congress which is the largest umbrella of workers in Nigeria has directed the workforce to proceed on an indefinite strike starting from today and a peaceful rally”.

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“as labour we are not ignorant of the fact that as labour leaders in Delta State, we are mindful of the need to intimate the governor that the strike as directed has been brought to bear in Delta State and this strike is also indefinite and the only thing that will make us to suspend this strike and rally is when we get a contrary directive from our national headquarters”.

According to him, “we are here to let the governor know that all Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) including government parastatals are under lock and key and until the strike is suspended as may be directed by our national head office, we will not be happy to see any contrary action been carried out by way of government directives to workers in Delta State”, he warned.

Adding, “we patiently waited even though we are not happy for keeping us under the scourging heat from the sun but because as a labour friendly governor since the inception of this administration. So we won’t see any reason why the government of Senator (Dr) Ifeanyi Okowa will want to jettison it coming to address labour. For almost an hour or two we have been kept under the sun, we are not very happy but that is the prize of liberalization of the workers from the chains and shackles of insensitive leaders we have in this country”.

Findings revealed that the governor actually received the management of Warri Refinery and Petro-Chemical Company (WRPC) led by the company’s Chief Operating Officer (Refineries), Mr. Anibor Kragha Wednesday in Asaba, but not a security meeting as said by the Chief Of Staff.

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Hear what was discussed at the so-called security meeting: “if the refineries succeed, Nigeria succeeds and different states succeed because the importation of fuel has impacted negatively on the revenue of government; all the state governments are in support of the liberalisation of down-stream oil sector of the economy because, we are caught in the web as the price of oil is very low and there are no foreign exchange to continue to import fuel.”

“I sympathize with all Nigerians, we did not anticipate this situation, I believe the Federal Government will find ways to cushion the effects of the liberalisation but, above all, there are lessons to be learnt from the situation; we need to diversify our economy as quickly as possible,” he stated, adding, “the restructuring of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the liberalisation of the down-stream oil sector if followed through thoroughly will impact positively on the economy and create jobs for the citizenry.”

He disclosed that, “An advocacy committee led by the Deputy Governor is currently on sensitization visit to oil-bearing communities for the people to protect the pipelines and government property in their areas”.

The Governor called for partnership between his administration and WRPC to tackle the menace of tankers on the roads, disclosing that though, the state government has provided a park for the tankers, it has been observed that it could only accommodate about 20 per cent of the tankers which has given room for a bigger park to be constructed.

When the protesters left Government House and took their protest to the Police Command, the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Alkali Usman Baba was right on ground and received the NLC protesters who stormed the command.

The question on the lips of the protesters was how could a state governor hold a security meeting without the presence of the Commissioner of Police?

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