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From Bimbola Oyesola
As economic pressures deepened, labour’s confrontation with government policy intensified. The unveiling of the National Industrial Relations Policy (NIRP) 2025 became a flashpoint, with unions warning that it dangerously reframed industrial action as a threat rather than a democratic right. Ajaero condemned what he described as an obsession with suppressing strikes while ignoring their root causes.
“We are shocked that the Federal Government has singled out industrial strikes as its headache,” he said, stressing that collective action was constitutionally protected and historically earned.
The Trade Union Congress (TUC) reinforced this position, cautioning against any attempt to narrow union space or weaken collective bargaining.
The TUC President, Festus Osifo warned that restrictive labour policies would only compound economic hardship. “When workers are silenced and wages stagnate, frustration grows, and frustration breeds instability,” he said.
Labour leaders maintained that meaningful reform must centre workers’ welfare, not merely macroeconomic indicators detached from lived realities.
