A major showdown is brewing in Delta State as civil servants threaten to shut down government offices over a controversial new dress code introduced by the state government.
Speaking in a fiery Facebook podcast delivered in pidgin English, the Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Goodluck Ofobruku, warned that workers would not sit idly by while policies that “drain their lean salaries” are forced upon them.
Ofobruku accused the government of sidelining workers’ representatives before rolling out the policy, describing the move as arrogant and insensitive. “If you want to make new policy, why you nor go discuss am with workers’ representatives? Dem just sit down for office, issue circular, as if na only dem dey suffer for this country,” he thundered, adding that the government’s action smacks of hypocrisy since many top officials allegedly enrich themselves while junior workers struggle to survive.
The NLC boss went further, saying that if such policies are allowed to stand, “a time go come when government fit even issue circular to ban marriage among civil servants.”
Read also:
- Delta NLC demands wardrobe allowance over new Civil Service dress code
- Delta State bans fake hair, long eyelashes, bushy beards in shocking new dress code for Civil Servants
- Stakeholders meet in Delta to address farmers–herders conflict
He lamented that many offices in Delta lack basic furniture, yet the state prioritises a dress code over workers’ welfare. “Civil servants no even get good working environment, but government dey talk about cloth wey person go wear,” he stressed.
While the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and NLC are yet to officially present their positions to the government, tension is already high, with many workers openly backing calls for resistance. However, some civil servants have criticised the NLC chairman for “playing to the gallery” on social media, urging him instead to make a formal protest through approved labour channels.
The unfolding crisis could set the stage for what can become one of the most heated labour-government clashes in Delta State in recent years.
