The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has called on the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to delay its ongoing strike until after the Id al-Kabir (Salah) festival.
MURIC expressed concerns that the strike would cause significant hardship for Muslims preparing for the important religious celebration.
In a statement released on Monday and signed by MURIC’s Executive Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola, the organisation highlighted the potential negative impact of the strike on Muslims during the festive period.
“There is no scintilla of doubt that the strike will make life unbearable for Muslims preparing for Id al-Kabir (Salah), which is just a few days away,” the statement read. MURIC pointed out that participation from unions in critical service sectors such as petroleum and electricity would exacerbate the situation, disrupting lives and making travel difficult and expensive.
The statement criticised the NLC for providing insufficient notice of the strike, describing the union’s approach as “aggressive, arrogant, fascist, and partisan.” MURIC suggested that the timing of the strike appeared to target the Muslim community, questioning whether the NLC would have scheduled a strike so close to Christmas.
“We advise NLC to postpone it till after the Salah. If NLC rejects our advice and goes ahead with its satanic strike, we will ask all Muslim workers who know that they will meet Allah yaom al-Qiyaamah (The Last Day) not to cooperate with NLC. They should reject the strike because it is an assault on the religion of Islam,” the statement continued.
MURIC also called on Muslim leaders and Islamic organisations in Nigeria to voice their opposition to the strike, urging a united front against what it termed the “tyranny of Muslim-haters thinly veiled in unionism.”
The organisation concluded with a firm stance: “We say ‘No To Strike in Salah.'”
