Nigeria’s National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), the umbrella group for the country’s electricity workers, Thursday called off its nationwide strike, which started We dnesday, after reaching an agreement with the federal government.
NUEE Spokesman Temple Iworima Owirima told journalists in the capital city of Abuja that the government had agreed to begin immediate payment of salary arrears to 20,000 workers, about half of the staff strength of the electricity workers.
He said under the agreement, the outstanding 137 per cent pay rise agreed in May would be discussed ‘within the stipulated time’, while the government had promised to address the issue of the regularization of appointment of more than 10,000 casual workers of the monopoly Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).
Though the strike was noticeable on the streets of some cities, as streets lights went off Wednesday night, most Nigerians hardly felt the strike in their homes or at their offices because most are already used to providing their own electric ity even in the best of times due to low power supply.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation of 150 million people, generates just about 3,000 mega watts of electricity, which is barely enough to power the vast country.
President Goodluck Jonathan was due to unveil his administration’s plan to tackle the electricity problem Thursday in Lagos.