Minimum wage: Don’t strike on Salah eve – MURIC tells NLC, TUC

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has warned Organized Labour not to embark on a strike on the eve of the Salah holiday.

While issuing the warning, it further stated that it would be an act of hostility towards Muslims in the nation.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, MURIC’s Executive Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola, said the NLC’s one-week moratorium falls due on Tuesday, June 11, which is approximately on the eve of this year’s Id-el-Kabiir (Salah).

Akintola cautioned that kicking off another strike on the eve of Salah would not be tolerated because Muslims form a large segment of Nigeria’s population.

He advised the NLC to steer clear of Islamic landmarks and respect the Salah holiday, warning that any strike during the holiday would be met with resistance from Muslims.

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.”