Nigerian electricity workers don suspend dia nationwide strike, wey don cause total blackout for different parts of di kontri.
Di electricity workers under di joinbdodi of di National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) and Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEC) gree to suspend di strike, following di intervention of di Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen. Chris Ngige.
Ngige bin summon one emergency toktok meeting between di Federal Goment and di electricity workers on Wednesday to resolve di issues wey cause di strike.
Di workers bin alleged contravention of dia Conditions of Service and Career Progression, stigmatisation of electricity staff by di Office of the Head of Service of di Federation and refusal of di market operators to fund di payment of entitlements of ex-PHCN staff as dem agreed for di 2019 agreement.
Wen e dey follow tori pipo afta di meeting wey happun for Abuja on Wednesday, di President of NUEE, Comrade Joe Ajero, say dem don ask dem to stop di strike action.
Ajaero dey hope say di federal goment no go do dem one kain ontop di mata wey don dey for ground tey tey.
E say dem go pause di strike and wait for two weeks as dem gree for di meeting for di goment to address dia grievances.
Wen e also follow tori pipo yarn, Ngige say afta dem don do toktok wella ontop di mata for hand dem gree to constitute one bipartite committee to chook eyes into di grievances of di electricity workers and report back in two weeks.
According to Ngige, di members of di committee include di Minister of State for Power, Jeddy Agba(Chairman), Permanent Secretary, Office of the Secretary to goment of di Federation, Permanent Secretary, General Services, Office of di Head of Service of di Federation, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, representative of BPE and two representatives from NUEE and SSAEC.
Di committee get two weeks to report back to di whole house.
Why TCN workers dey strike
Di union bin threaten to begin strike from 17th August 2022 so dat goment go listen to dia demands.
Wetin di Transmission Company of Nigeria workers dey ask for na :
- Dem dey request say make dem suspend di conditions of service and career path for workers and di directive by di TCN board to conduct promotion interviews for Acting principal managers wey dey move to Assistant General Managers.
- To stop stigmatization of staff from di Office of di Head Of Service of di federation wey no dey allow dem to work for oda areas of di Power sector.
- Inability of di market operator to fund payment of entitlements wey former Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) staff suppose get.
Dem say dem no go call of di strike until goment answer dem.
Wetin goment dey do about di strike
Di Federal Goment say dem dey hold discussions wit di organized labour in order to proffer resolution to various issues wey don make electricity workers in di konytri to begin strike.
Di Minister of Power, Abubakar Aliyu reveal dis to di State House correspondents after di Federal Executive Council meeting wey President Buhrai chair on Wednesday.
E tok say di issues in contention center around employment wey dey largely under di purview of di Head of Service and not di Ministry of Power.
Official of TCN bin tell BBC Pidgin earlier say “if goment to solve dis issue now e go affect di economy of di kontri and pipo go begin soend money buy fuel wey goment increase price from 165 naira to over 170 naira per litre to power dia business and dis go increase cost of goods and services.
Di goment begin di privatisation of the power sector in 2000s.
For 2013, dem privatized 11 electricity distribution companies (DISCOs) and six generating companies (GENCOs) while retaining 100% ownership of di Transmission Company of Nigeria. But corruption and inefficiency don pafuka im progress.
Nigeria’s power generation dey mostly thermal and hydro wit installed capacity of about 12,522 Megawatts. But, di constant collapse of di national grid since di start of di year don make am to only able to distribute about 4,000MW; wey dey result to epileptic supplies of electricity to cater for over 200 million pipo.
Incessant power cuts don force plenti Nigerians, wey include entrepreneurs to rely mostly on petrol or diesel powered generating plants to power dia homes and businesses.
Di distribution companies for some states issue statement to inform dia customers about how di strike go affect dem.
PUBLIC NOTICE!
Dear Esteemed Customer,
Due to the ongoing nationwide picketing of Transmission Stations by the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), we are currently experiencing disruption of power supply as most stations within our network have been shut down. pic.twitter.com/yngmLmTo6b
— Ikeja Electric (@IkejaElectric) August 17, 2022
Notice of Strike Action by NUEE#ibedc #tcn #nuee #strike #powersector #distributingpower #changinglives pic.twitter.com/lOmkiMMmNj
— IBEDC (@IBEDC_NG) August 17, 2022
