Minimum wage: Labour Strike paralyses Lagos Government Secretariat

By Kazeem Ugbodaga

The strike embarked on by labour to demand for a new minimum wage has paralysed activities at the Lagos State Government Secretariat.

The five entrances into the government secretariat, Alausa,Ikeja, Lagos, Southwest Nigeria were shut by officials of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC very early in the morning.

NLC officials were said to have stormed the secretariat around 5:30am and shut the gates, blocking the entrance with vehicles.

Some civil servants who came to the office despite warning that they should stay away from work were prevented from entering the secretariat.

No vehicles were allowed into the secretariat as union members vowed that the strike must be 100 percent effective and they did achieve their aim.

Inside the secretariat, all offices remained shut as the area was like a ghost town.

Also, public schools in the state were shut. Pupils and students who reported at school were sent back home, as union officials enforced the strike across government institutions in Lagos.

Earlier, some banks opened for work in the state, but NLC officials later forced them to shutdown for business activities, as the workers were sent home.

The organised labour had ordered all its workers to proceed on seven-day warning strike with effect from today in order to demand a new minimum wage after a last minute meeting held with the federal government to stop the strike was deadlock.