By Ayo Kehinde
Femi Aborishade
The protesting workers listening to pep talks
In what looked like a dress rehearsal for the planned August 2, nationwide strike by the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, hundreds of Oyo state civil servants in the early hours of Monday, barricade the gate to the state government secretariat.
The workers were demanding palliatives, upward review of pension allowances, and payment of salary deduction, amongst others, in the face of hardship induced by subsidy removal and fuel price increases by the federal government.
They blocked the entrance into the secretariat to have an audience with Governor Seyi Makinde over pending issues related to their welfare.
“We want to meet with the Governor and not his representative”, “Our full salary is not enough for our transport to our place of work,” the workers drawn from various trade unions in the state, including the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), the Trade Union Congress (TUC), the Nigerian Union of Pensioners (NUP), the Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) and their affiliate bodies, demanded.
Though no official of the Oyo State government addressed the protesting workers, they got supporting messages from comrades from affiliated CSOs and right activists like Femi Aborishade and others.
