From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
In compliance with Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) directive that members commence a national strike from midnight on Monday, the entrance of the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF), venue of the 6th Nigerian Diaspora Investment Summit Initiative (NDIS), has been blocked.
The three day-event which kicked that with the pitching sessions for Nigerian businesses particularly startups, has over 2000 participants participating both onsight and online.
Chairman/CEO of Nigerian in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, had explained that the main purpose of the summit is to show that interacting with the diaspora is a more viable approach to drawing foreign capital into the developing, diverse Nigerian economy.
TUC President Festus Osifo, who announced the strike had said the industrial action would remain until “government at all levels wake up to their responsibility.”
The strike is also to protest the battering of the NLC President, Joe Ajaero, and some other executives of the congress in Owerri, Imo State, on November 1, as well as the pending labour issues in Imo State.
Ajaero was arrested by the police ahead of a state-wide protest in Imo, as disclosed by the NLC’s Head of Information, Benson Upah.
Participants at NDIS2023 that had arrived the venue of the meeting as early as 7:30am were shocked to meet the gate under lock and key with NLC officials preventing them from going in.
One of the attendees from the United States described the action as an abuse of power by Ajaero, saying the strike should have taken place in Imo State alone, where the NLC President was beaten to drive home their points rather than drag everyone into it.
A member of organised labour at the venue insisted that injury to one is injury to all.
As at the time of filing this report, organisers of the event were making frantic efforts to get the participants into the venue, lamenting that attending virtually all over the world were calling to find out why the second day of the event had not kicked off.
Vice President Kashim Shattima is expected to declare open the NDIS2023 with the theme “New Vistas, New Aspirations, New Visions: The Diaspora and National Development”.