Flight Ban: Don’t let politics destroy labour movement – FG
…. There Should Be Consequences, Say Imo Elders
… Ajaero Pursuing Labour Party’s Interest In Imo – Uzodimma
Festus Keyamo, minister of aviation and aerospace development, has warned the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) against disrupting flight operations at the airports.
Keyamo gave the warning at the ministerial retreat for the minister, permanent secretary, directors and heads of agencies of the ministry of aviation and aerospace development in Delta on Thursday.
On Wednesday, the NLC and Trade Union Congress (TUC) impeded all flights billed for Owerri, Imo state capital, leaving several passengers stranded at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.
The protest followed the maltreatment of Joe Ajaero, NLC president.
Reacting to this move, Keyamo said he would not tolerate the activities of the labour leaders blocking access roads to the airport.
“Please, I want to beg the labour leaders, live aviation alone. You can not target aviation in trying to address your grievances,” the minister said.
“In targeting the aviation industry you are targeting a global village.
“I am addressing the labour leaders across the country, do not allow the Labour Party (LP) to destroy the labour movement.
“I repeat, do not allow the LP and party politics to destroy the labour movement.
“As a minister, I will not allow the labour movement to target aviation. If they do, I will fight back. They should not bring politics into aviation.
“They can deceive others but they can not deceive me. So I am appealing that the labour movement should not destroy themselves on the platform of politics.”
Keyamo said the industry was key and central to any sustainable growth and development in other sectors of the Nigerian economy.
He added that the five-point agenda for the rapid transformation of the sector in line with the eight priority areas of President Bola Tinubu was the focus.
The minister highlighted some of the priorities as ensuring strict compliance with the nation’s laws and regulations, as well as international obligations among others.
“Others are supporting the growth and sustenance of local airline business; human capacity development and optimisation of revenue generation,” he added.
Speaking on the aim of the retreat, the minister said the objective was to deliberate and carry out a “SWOT” analysis of the industry to proffer practical solutions to attain the desired results.
“We need to be proactive and circumspect in our deliberations regarding where we are today as an industry, where we desire to be and most importantly, how to get there,” Keyamo said.
He said he is confident that the growth and development in the aviation sector should be private-sector driven to attract foreign direct investment.
Ajaero Pursuing Labour Party’s Interest In Imo – Uzodimma
Governor Hope Uzodimma says the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, is pursuing the agenda of the Labour Party in Imo State.
“Joe Ajaero is pursuing his personal interest,” the governor said on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Thursday.
“He (Ajaero) has said times with number that he is a member of Labour Party (LP). He has a candidate in the election of Imo State. So, he is driving whatever programme that will give advantage to Labour Party in Imo State.”
Ajaero was attacked in Owerri last Wednesday just before a planned protest in the state to press the state government to heed the demands of the workers in the state. the NLC accused the Uzodimma government of supervising the assault on Ajaero but the government has denied the allegations.
The NLC and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) had since ordered shutdown of essential services in Imo as protest for the attack on Ajaero and declared a nationwide strike effective November 14, 2023.
On Wednesday, aviation unions in Nigeria directed their workers to withdraw services to all public and private Owerri flights (both inwards and outwards) with effect from midnight. The unions said the strike is indefinite until otherwise directed by the NLC and the TUC.
On Thursday, Labour picketed the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja and grounded air travel activities at the airport.
Speaking on Channels Television’s programme on Thursday, Uzodimma said he does not know why the NLC leader has been hostile to his government but he looks forward to the day he will engage Labour.
“It’s surprising that an NLC president from Imo State will be hostile to my government,” he said.
The governor further said contrary to claims by the NLC, there were backlogs of salaries that were not paid before he came that his administration has cleared.
Uzodimma said some workers were ghost workers while some received double salaries before they were discovered and stopped.
Governorship elections will hold on November 11, 2023 in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi states.
In Imo, Uzodimma is seeking re-election and is being challenged by 17 other candidates including Samuel Anyanwu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party (LP)’s Achonu Nneji as well as Jack Ogunewe of the Action Alliance (AA).
