Strike: Court injunction against workers is govt ploy to hide secret – Barr Mohammad

Barrister Jimoh Saad Muhammad graduated from the University of Ilorin in 2008 and attended the Abuja branch of the Nigerian law school. Called to the bar on 4th November, 2009 after completing his NYSC in Osun State, Mohammad joined the law chamber of Ilorin office of J.S Bamigboye (SAN) for his attachment in 2011 before he went ahead to open his private office, J.S Mohammad & Associates in June 2020. In this telephone interview with Acting Editor, Mumini AbdulKareem, the former Secretary-General of Ilorin NBA and one time chairman of the Kwara State branch of the Young Lawyers Forum (YLF) offers his perspectives on the ranging issue of the strike between labour and government in Kwara State. Excerpts:
The Kwara State government said it has secured an exparte order to prevent workers from embarking on strike before their action, what is your view concerning the legality or otherwise of the workers action?
First thing is that protest generally is not something illegal but a means to allow the government know what the workers want and what they don’t want. In developed countries, protests of such are very strong weapons used by citizens to call the attention of the government to their expectations from the state and what they reject. Except violent protest, peaceful protest is allowed everywhere (in the world) as long as it is non violent. So what now usually happens in Nigeria which can only occur in developing countries with special emphasis on Africa is that the government will go and seek injunction or court order against those that want to protest. Order for what if I may ask? Is it that they should not hold the protest or they should just keep quiet about their grievances? And in any case, such order must clearly spell out the names of those that it was obtained against and then they (those affected) must be served with the copies, not that they will be hearing it on social media. Failure to serve them, they (workers) can claim ignorance and proceed to carry out whatever they want to do. So ordinarily, I don’t see anything wrong with the action of workers but if truly there is an order and all necessary parties were served, any protest that the labour will carry out becomes illegal and a contempt of court which is actionable. They must wait to hear what the court will say about it in respect of the court’s dignity and sanctity. But an order cannot just be obtained (in vacuum), there must have been a valid suit in court and moreover, an exparte order has lifespan of seven days.
With the look of things and the seeming deadlock on the negotiation, is it now binding on the workers to call off the strike if the government serve them any notice?
No! Order will only work for what it was sought for. If what it was sought for was for there not to be protest, then it stops at that and can’t be used to call off the strike. An exparte order cannot be used for anything other than what it was sought for except the order contained instruction not to protest and that they must resume work. That will be in existence pending the time that it will be challenged in court. But on this issue where the government said the order was to stop them from going on strike, the order will lapse after seven days and the labour will go back to the court to challenge it. The order the government said it has served should include court processes and there will still be motion on notice from where the labour union can defend itself on the order.
Now how will you react to the craze by governments, both at the state and federal levels to always rush to the court to get injunctions to avert impending strike action by workers?
The reason is because we are not ready to do our duty and we are not responsible in any way. They know going on strike will expose their secrets to the whole world which they (governments) don’t want. That is why they always rush to the court for injunctions not to allow it happen. If government had done what is needful, there would not have been the need for going on strike in the first place. But people are not ready to do their duties and it is very common in this part of the world.
This strike coming at the height of the Covid-19 Pandemic, what do you make of the whole situation?
My candid advice is for the government to call the who is who in the state and sit on a round table with labour to find a lasting solution to the issue. Everybody is in a very tight corner now due to the Covid-19 pandemic that has caused serious economic challenge to the people. Some people now find it very difficult to feed before now not to talk of the worsening situation occasioned by the skyrocketing price of fuel which has had a corresponding increase on the prices of foodstuffs. So living has become very hard for people and they are suffering very seriously now. The salary before now is not enough to buy anything. It is important for the government to call stakeholders together with a view to finding lasting solution to the problem with meaningful deliberation. Both parties should shift ground so that people can reason with them. Some states have already commenced the implementation of the new minimum wage and if Kwara says it has no power to implement it fully now, then there is need for dialogue on what can be paid not for the (government) to just maintain silence on the matter. It can only make things worse.