Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo
The Executive Director World Institute for Peace, Lamina Omotoyosi, yesterday warned the Osun State Government and the varied labour unions on the three-day warning strike embarked upon by the Osun State chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) over the lingering native authorities disaster within the state.
The govt director famous that as an organisation dedicated to selling peace, stability, improvement and social justice, “he considered this warning strike needless, barbaric, deceptive and a deliberate attempt to ground the state’s economy and potentially trigger civil unrest.”
According to him, “We haven’t any reservation in concluding that the strike is being embarked upon in dangerous religion and is politically motivated, with the intention of blackmailing the judiciary and making a potential environment of anarchy within the polity. “
Omotoyosi, who acknowledged this at a press convention addressed in Osogbo yesterday, contended that: “This place is knowledgeable by the trajectory of the native authorities disaster in Osun State and the plethora of litigations surrounding native authorities administration within the state.
“It is our expectation that the labour motion ought to function a fountain of information, the voice of staff, and by extension, the voice of the downtrodden.
“Labour unions are anticipated to be populated by individuals with sound data of the legislation and judicial processes, and this could mirror of their method to delicate points equivalent to the continued native authorities disaster in Osun State, significantly when the matter remains to be pending earlier than a number of courts of competent jurisdiction.
“Unfortunately, the reverse seems to be the case in Osun State. As issues stand right this moment, the labour motion within the state seems to have chosen political patronage over honesty, integrity and the final curiosity of staff.
“As an organisation, we’re equally disturbed and critically involved concerning the protracted nature of the native authorities disaster and the authorized impediments affecting the discharge of native authorities allocations.
“We are genuinely interested in a timely resolution of the crisis and the release of funds to improve the lives of people at the grassroots. However, ignoring existing legal obstacles amounts to mischief, dishonesty and an affront to the judiciary, particularly when such a position is being advanced by a labour movement that ought to be a custodian of public institutions, including the judiciary.”
The Executive Director, nevertheless, thought-about the proposed strike as mere political grandstanding, both to patronise the state authorities, intimidate the judiciary or blackmail the Federal Government of Nigeria.
He posited that: “The basic questions that the Osun State NLC ought to present solutions to are: Who is withholding the native authorities allocations? Why are the allocations allegedly being withheld? And why had been the allocations launched not too long ago to the 2022 elected native authorities administration in Osun State?
“The easy reply to those questions is the court docket, the court docket, and the court docket.
“Therefore, if the courts are yet to reach a final determination of the matter, who has the authority to either stop or authorise the release of the allocations? Certainly, no other institution can legitimately override the judicial process. Or is the Osun NLC suggesting that the Federal Ministry of Finance or the Central Bank of Nigeria should release the funds in flagrant disregard of subsisting court orders”?
“The foregoing raises critical questions on what the Osun NLC intends to realize via this strike. “
“What cannot be obtained through the courts cannot be secured through industrial action.”
“This is similar to the situation in which local government workers embarked on one of the longest strikes in the state’s history, lasting about 20 months, after several attempts to obtain judicial redress proved unsuccessful.”
He recalled that the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) dragged the native authorities council chairmen and councillors to court docket however subsequently withdrew the instances after approaching a number of courts.
He stated: “It is due to this fact unlucky that the labour motion now seems to be resorting to extrajudicial technique of looking for redress. Such conduct is able to encouraging anarchy and shouldn’t be condoned in a democratic society ruled by the rule of legislation.
“For emphasis, protests and industrial strikes are basic rights and privileges assured by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended. However, within the current circumstances, this warning and sympathy strike represents, in our view, a excessive degree of dishonesty and an try to create an financial disaster within the state whereas inflicting pointless hardship on private and non-private enterprise homeowners.
“The choice we might have anticipated from the labour unions is constructive dialogue with all events concerned within the ongoing litigations. The unions ought to persuade the events to both withdraw the instances or contemplate an out-of-court settlement that may pave the way in which for the decision of the deadlock surrounding native authorities funds in Osun State.
“Interestingly, the labour unions could have used the opportunity of their recent inclusion in the Campaign Council of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as announced by the State Coordinator, Senator Ademola Adeleke, to engage the political parties involved in the litigations. Such engagement could help facilitate an amicable resolution and allow Osun State to breathe again over the lingering local government allocation crisis.”
