The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has responded to the statement by the presidency which labelled the ongoing strike an “ego-tripping move” intended to “blackmail the government.”

The Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to the President, Bayo Onanuga, claimed that the strike was “over a personal matter involving the NLC President, Joe Ajaero.”

Responding in a statement, titled “Bayo Onanuga’s Mischief and the Tragedy of a Nation, the NLC spokesperson, Benson Upah, said the strike is not about ego, or a personal matter involving Ajaero, but rather about the government’s failure to address the plight of workers and Nigerians.

The NLC accused Onanuga of making “sadistic comments” and suggested that his remarks reflected the views of those in power.

The union stated that the government should remain grateful to the organized labour for its uncommon patience with an administration that it said was not prepared for the consequences of its fundamentalist market policies of massive currency devaluation and ‘subsidy’ removal.