By Cross Udo, Abuja
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) yesterday urged state governors to adopt Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) technology, saying that CNG buses offer a high advantage.
The NLC also appealed to the governors to partner with it and provide more CNG vehicles to cushion the high transportation fares workers are facing.
NLC President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, appealed to Lokoja, the Kogi State capital, during the commissioning of 10 CNG buses provided by the Labour Center for the North Central zone.
Ajaero said transportation is key to any nation’s economic growth and appealed to the Kogi State government to provide additional CNG buses, infrastructure, and fuel stations.
He expressed optimism that with professionals with a labour union background at the helm of governance in the state, the dividends of democracy will reach the grassroots.
He said, “The importance of transportation in the economic growth of any nation is very, very key, and that is why we want to appeal to you. Yes, we are coming here with the CNG busses and stationing them here as a centre, but like in other states where we have been, we ask the state government to provide additional CNG buses and develop infrastructure. If we keep all these CNG buses without a station to fuel them with CNG, then it doesn’t amount to anything.
“The advantage of this CNG busses is so high, if a vehicle is fuelled with PMS (Premium Motor Spirit) of N50,000, it will not take you up to N15,000 to fill a CNG bus. And that is the advantage that we must all key into.
“However, if we have one or two stations here where they can fuel, the infrastructure where you convert PMS to CNG with conversion kits will benefit this state and the entire zone.
“That’s exactly what we are bringing to you. And if transportation is cheap here, some of the workers’ problems will be solved. And if part of the workers, problem of transportation is solved, that of the movement of goods and services from one part of the country to another will also be solved.
“So we appeal to you to complement this, to get more CNG buses, adopt the CNG technology, and see the inherent benefits.”
The NLC President said that the importance of industrial peace and productivity growth cannot be overestimated, adding, “If there is industrial peace in Kogi state, the productivity of this state will be high, and that is why, as much as possible, we try to maintain industrial peace.
“Peace doesn’t mean the absence of disagreement, but industrial peace ensures that schools normally run from term to term, from semester to semester, works the same thing, electricity flow, every other thing normal and such, environment is good for business.”
He told the government to look into the issue of union proscription in tertiary institutions in the state, which was done by the previous administration, pointing out that check-off dues were not remitted.
“It is an appeal, and that appeal, I will join it with the issue of collection of dues by agents, although the Head of Service was protesting that. These two areas are outside the jurisdiction of any state government.
“So it’s advisory that you look at them. Trade union matters are under the government’s exclusive jurisdictional list, not on the concurrent list, so we make sure we resolve this. If things were not going well before, we want it to start now because the people here now know, and they know too well.
“So use your machinery, Your Excellency, to look into these issues because those are not issues we want to start loving later with. But this opportunity here allows us to share ideas and see how we resolve them.”
He commended the State government for implementing the minimum wage and taking a frontal lead in maintaining it religiously.
He appealed for it to be increased from about N72,000, which it is currently paying, to about N85,000 so that the NLC leadership could come to the state and celebrate.
Responding, the Deputy Governor, Comrade Joel Salifu Oyibo, said that Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo’s administration knows what the masses need, adding that having come from the grassroots, the government is ready to serve everybody.
The Deputy Governor commissioned the 10 CNG buses provided by the NLC
