The nation may be heading for total darkness any time from now as workers at Kainji and Shiroro dams are set to join the ongoing industrial action.
An official close to operations at both dams said if the Federal Government failed to meet the demands of the labour unions by bringing down the pump price of petrol from N70 per litre to N65, they would have no choice but to join the strike by today.
THISDAY gathered that the decision was already causing panic in government as top functionaries had started putting pressure on labour union leaders to change their stance and embrace the concessions made by government.
THISDAY gathered from the labour unions that the immediate past permanent secretary, Dr. Timiebi Koripamo-Agary, who was asked to vacate her post at the Federal Ministry of Labour few days to the end of President Olusegun Obasanjo reign had been drafted to tackle the matter.
She had mediated in several trade union disputes and succeeded in averting strikes in the past.
But a member of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Mohammed Gulloma Saidu, has disclosed that members working in the area of crude oil exploration have been asked to shut down.
�We have given the directives that all the terminals must be shut down by 12 midnight Wednesday and they have compiled. By early this morning (Thursday), those who were yet to do so said they were in the process of doing so. You know the process of shutting down takes time but they are complying.
�The implication is very clear but is very unfortunate that this new government wants to be hijacked by sycophants. Nigeria is greater than any individual. They cannot increase fuel price through dubious means and expect us to take it,� he said.
On his part, the Senate President, Senator David Mark, has urged NLC to reciprocate Federal Government�s gesture in granting it some concessions by calling off its strike.
Speaking when the Chairman of the National Assembly Service Commission, Alhaji Ahmed Dogondaji, and his commissioners visited him in his office, Mark said there was the need for labour to open its doors for continued dialogue.
He expressed surprise that NLC was yet to call off the strike in spite of the concessions by government and calls by well-meaning Nigerians, warning that the congress could lose public sympathy if the strike was not called off immediately.
The Senate President explained that the new administration in the country should be allowed to settle down so that it could comprehensively address the issues at stake.
He lamented that the strike was not in the national interest and could also not be in the interest of labour either.
Speaking earlier, Dogondaji commended the leadership of the Senate and requested the Senate President to look into the problem of accommodation facing the commission.
The Senate President had promised that the leadership of the Senate would address the problem.
Meanwhile, the crippling effect of the strike has hit healthcare services and commercial vehicle operations as it enters its third day.
In Damaturu, Yobe State capital, top government officials, volunteers and some doctors attended to patients at the Sani Abacha Hospital because the workers had joined the strike.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr Mohammed Sulum, led the team to attend to the patients.
Voluntary and non governmental organisations (NGO) have also promised to provide assistance in ensuring that patients have access to drugs.
Some patients accepted the ad-hoc arrangement and a lot of others opted to seek treatment at private hospitals and clinics in spite of the high cost.
Labour leaders disallowed commercial vehicles from carrying out their activities in Damaturu, Yobe State, just as no fewer than 50 cabs were smashed by protesters along Oba Adesida road in Akure, Ondo State.
No fewer than 10 persons were wounded by protesters who attacked taxi drivers doing their legitimate businesses in Akure. The protesters blocked major roads in Akure to ensure that the strike got full compliance, especially the stay- at- home-order but police had taken over the major streets to prevent possible breakdown of law and order.
The policemen employed persuasion rather than force to disperse restive youths as people ran for their safety.
Police Public Relations Officer in Ondo State, Mr. Aremu Adeniran, said the police were up to the task of curtailing any violent reaction.
He said: “some miscreants are trying to disrupt the legitimate business activities of taxi drivers because their chairman did not give an order to any group to disturb others from carrying out their businesses.”
Commuters in Enugu were also stranded as the leadership of the Enugu State Branch of NURTW disallowed commercial bus drivers from plying the roads.
The monitoring team was visible in every part of the city discharging passengers from the buses and forcing vehicles off the roads.
A commuter, Mr. Mike Ikenna, said that he could not get to his shop on time because of the action of the monitoring team.
Jun222007