Minimum wage: Don’t strike on Salah Eve – MURIC warns NLC, TUC

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has issued a strong warning to the Organized Labour that going on strike on the eve of the Salah holiday would be an act of hatred against Muslims in the country.

Prof. Ishaq Akintola, the Executive Director of MURIC, said in a statement on Wednesday that the NLC’s one-week moratorium ends on Tuesday, June 11, which is the eve of this year’s Id-el-Kabiir (Salah).

Akintola warned that starting another strike on the night before Salah would not be allowed because many people in Nigeria are Muslims.

He told the NLC to stay away from Islamic landmarks and observe the Salah holiday, saying that Muslims would fight back if they went on strike during the holiday.

Akintola said, “The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) suspended their strike yesterday (Wednesday) for one week only. The union vowed to review the situation in a week’s time. A quick calculation shows that NLC’s one week moratorium falls due on Tuesday, 11th June, 2024. That is approximately on the eve of this year’s Id-el-kabiir (Salah).

“Kicking off another strike on the eve of Salah will definitely be seen as an act of hostility towards Muslims. It is probably not in the best interest of NLC to incur the wrath of Nigerian Muslims while claiming to embark on industrial action to advance the people’s welfare.

“Muslims form a clear majority of Nigeria’s estimated 220 million people. Those who doubted and contested this projection have learned the hard way. Therefore, if it is true that NLC will need the goodwill of the people to make its strike succeed, it will be unwise to attack the sensibility of Muslims by embarking on an anti-Muslim strike.

“We affirm clearly, categorically and emphatically that another strike on the eve of Salah will be an anti-Muslim strike. Muslims are duty-bound to break it.”