The Kogi State Chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has elected Gabriel Amari as the new Chairman of the congress.
Amari, is the current State Chairman, Medical and Health Worker Union of Nigeria, (MHWUN).
The new NLC Chairman took over from Comrade Onuh Edoka whose tenure came to an end today.
In his acceptance speech, Amari said he is trusting in God to pilot the affairs of the union in Kogi State to a greater height.
He promised to prioritise the welfare of Kogi workers adding that, the immediate past Chairman made a lot of impact in his two tenures in office.
He promised not to disappoint Kogi workers in the struggle for greatness in the state.
Amari promised to apply diplomacy and dialogue in getting all the demands of workers from the State Government.
In his maiden speech as NLC Chairman, Amari lamented the poor salaries of local government and primary school teachers in the state, stressing that some government appointees have continued to frustrate the union from interfacing with the state government to address the issues.
While noting that his office will be open for constructive criticism, the new NLC Chairman appealed to the state government to always organize quarterly meetings with the labour union and should not wait when there is a crisis.
He, however, appealed to Governor Yahaya Bello to as a matter of urgency, appoint the immediate past Chairman, Onuh Edoka the special adviser on Labour matters following his numerous contributions towards the plight of Kogi workers.
Meanwhile, the NLC has commissioned the first ultramodern NLC Secretariat in Lokoja, the state capital.
The former State Chairman of the NLC, Comrade Onuh Edoka during the commissioning, said that no government in power can seal the union’s secretariat if they embark on industrial action.
He noted that unlike what is reported in other states where government build a secretariat for NLC and later seals it when workers protest against any obnoxious policies of government, the new NLC secretariat in Kogi State was built by the union with little support from government.
According to him, numerous challenges were encountered during the building project, as the union got little support from stakeholders in the state.
