Tension in Ondo as workers prevent Governor Mimiko from entering government house

– The striking civil servants in Ondo state took their rage to another level on Thursday, June 9

– The workers blocked the main gate to Government House in Akure, preventing Governor Olusegun Mimiko from entering

– All pleas by the governor to the workers fell on deaf ears

Aggrieved Ondo state workers who commenced an industrial action on Wednesday, June 1 to protest the non-payment of their five-month salaries took their rage to another level yesterday, June 9.

According to The Punch, the workers laid siege at the entrance of the Government House requesting to see the governor.

The governor was eventually forced to come down from his vehicle to address the workers. He pleaded with them to suspend the strike, saying the state did not have enough money to pay the accumulated salary arrears.

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Led by the state joint negotiation council chairman, Sunday Adeleye; the state chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Bosede Daramola; and her Trade Union Congress (TUC) counterpart, Soladoye Ekundayo, rejected the governor’s plea.

Mimiko appealed to the workers to call off the strike and consider his government’s commitment not to retrench any worker in spite of the dwindling resources of the state.

He promised he was ready to pay health and local government workers and teachers, to enable it to inject some money into the state economy, while noting that his administration was considerate and not insensitive to the plight of the workers.

The governor charged the people of the state “to see the present situation in the country as a collective challenge that we must face and proffer solutions to.”

He said: “We are in a very difficult time in Nigeria and I have absolutely nothing against your protest. I can’t imagine somebody working diligently or not too diligently but worked for five months without pay, especially in an economy that depends mainly on salary.

“Your protest has been peaceful and that is what democracy is all about. People must be able to ventilate their feelings just like you are ventilating yours. But it is important for us to know the truth because it is the truth that can set us free.”

The governor’s pleas however fell on deaf ears as some of the workers began shouting “no salary, no work”.

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Responding to the governor’s address, the state chairman of JNC, Adeleye, declared that if the workers do not get a clear commitment that the state government was ready to pay their salary arrears, the strike would continue.

Mimiko recently declared at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) headquarters in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja that these are unhappy times for Nigeria. 

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