The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, is currently holding a crucial meeting in Abuja with protesting workers of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMET).
The meeting seeks to resolve the workers’ concerns over the non-implementation of the new national minimum wage, ignoring requests to include omitted staff in past allowances, and neglecting key training programmes, among other issues.
Attending the meeting are the Director General, NiMET, Officials of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the National Union of Transport Employees, and other key stakeholders.
A brief opening session took place, after which members moved into a closed session.
Other unions present at the ongoing meeting are Amalgamated Union of Public Corporation, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees, Association of Nigerian Aviation Professionals, National Union of Air Transport Employees, among others.
Flight activities are being disrupted across major airports in the country following the strike by NiMET workers.
The strike, which has lingered into day 2, sees passengers on scheduled local flights stranded at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos and others.
Air Peace informed its passengers that the airline had made the decision not to fly due to safety issues.
In a video obtained by Channels Television on Wednesday, Air Peace’s Chief Executive Officer, Allen Onyema, was heard ordering for cancellation of flights nationwide.
“If NiMET has not called off the strike, cancel every Air Peace flight now with immediate effect. People’s lives and the safety of our equipment and our crew are foremost.
“I don’t care if other airlines are flying. Suspend every Air Peace flight nationwide. Look at the thunderstorm everywhere. Look at the kind of weather we are going into, and NiMET, which is supposed to provide these things, is on strike, and we are flying. Suspend all flights with immediate effect, until further notice, until that strike is over, safety first,” Onyema was heard instructing one of his managers over the phone.
What you should know:
NiMET is a Federal Government agency charged with the responsibility to advise the Federal Government on all aspects of meteorology; project, prepare, and interpret government policy in the field of meteorology; and to issue weather (and climate) forecasts for the safe operations of aircraft, ocean-going vessels, and oil rigs.
Workers at the agency are protesting poor working conditions, prompting nationwide flight disruptions.
Verily News reports that the Minister Festus Keyamo is leading a closed-door meeting to address their demands and restore normal operations across Nigeria’s aviation sector.
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