Olubiyo appeals for calm
By Abdul Lawal
Nigeria has been thrown into darkness as electricity workers have made good their threat to shut down transmission stations across the country effective
The action is in apparent obedience to the directive of the leadership of the National Union of Electricity Employees ( NUEE) which on monday declared industrial dispute against the
Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN)
Speaking on a national television programme on Wednesday morning, the General Secretary of NUEE Comrade Joe Ajaero said
the strike must go on as planned insistung that those seeking for
time to intervene in the matter do not have the capacity to do so.
He said that at the current stage of the struggle only the
President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria can resolve the matter
pointing out that several letters were written to the Ministers on
this matter with no response
But President, Nigeria Consumer Protection Network, Mr. Kunle Kola
Olubiyo urged all stakeholders to return to round-table to expeditiously
resolve the issues in the interest of Nigerians.
Olubiyo who is a member Presidential Adhoc Committee on Review of
Electricity Tariff in Nigeria said the effect of strike leading to electricity
blackout will be heavy on artisan, Loss of revenue, patients in the
hospital, the industrial productivity and the economy in general.
According to him over 17 letters went to the government from the
National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) as at 2019 and no
single one was addressed by the government.
“I believe the workers think that the only language government will
understand in addressing their complaint is going on national strike” he
stated.
Investigation by Dailynewscraft.ng revealed that the TCN workers
assembled in their various work places across the country at about 10 am
today and started to shut down the transmission stations and feeders
thereby shutting electricity supply to consumers in their network.
Dailynewscraft.ng gathered that the action which was intensified as the
day go by may have affected over 60 per cent of TCN installations
across the country.
Already Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) has issued a
statement appealing to its customers on the black out which the
attributed to strike by the TCN wing of NUEE.
“We will like to assure our valued customers that all stakeholders are
working to ensure that a mutual and amicable settlement is attained and
power is restored forthwith”.
Also, the statement issued by Kano Electricity Distribution Company
(KEDCO and signed by a Deputy General Manager,Ibrahim Sani
Shawai admitted a drop in electricity supply to customers in the area of
its franchise.
“The warning strike had already caused interruption of power supply
across our franchise area as all feeders supplying kano, Kaduna, and
Jigawa states have been dropped”
“ In this regard, we are informing our highly esteemed customers of this
development while assuring that concerned stakeholders are working to
ensure speedy resolution for power to be restored as soon as possible”
Shawai stated.
Phase one of the threats by NUEE was executed on Tuesday
with the picketing of the headquarters of TCN to press home their
demands for the implementation of yet-to-be-honored agreements
between it and the management of the company.
The alleged failure on the part of the Federal Government to pay the
entitlement of former staff of the defunct Power Holding Company
of Nigeria (PHCN) in December 2019 was also contained in the
August 15 th directive issued by Ajaero..
The NUEE said yesterday’s warning strike was a prelude to an
indefinite strike action is expected to commence today August 17 th
2022 across all locations in the country.
In a circular entitled “call to action”, the general secretary of
NUEE, Joe Ajaero, directed them to ensure total compliance,
vowing to paralyze operations of TCN nationwide over anti-
masses activities.
The union has promised to escalate its action today by shutting
down all the transmission stations in the country, thereby plunging
the nation into total darkness. This means the nation’s electricity
supply crisis could worsen from today following this impasse.
In a swift action to avert the strike, the Federal Government
through the Minister of State for Power Goddy Jedy-Agba in a
letter dated August 15 th 2022 addressed to the General Secretary
of NUEE made a passionate appeal to the union and demanded a
two weeks’ grace to enable him to consult with relevant stakeholders
with a view to amicably resolving the issues within the two weeks
time frame requested.
The Minister of State for Power said “The Ministry of Power takes
cognizance of your complaints therein and is committed to
offering solutions that will be acceptable to all parties concerned”.
“May we appeal to your great Union to allow us two weeks from
the date of this letter to address the issues and come up with
proposals towards acceptable resolution of all issues?”