By Shina Abubakar, Osogbo
OSOGBO – A coalition of civil society organisations in Osun, The Osun Masterminds, TOM, have alleged that the State Governor, Ademola Adeleke is behind the prolonged judiciary workers in the state.
JUSUN had declared strike late last year in protest against alleged high handedness of the Chief Judge and not priotising their welfare.
Speaking at the January edition of the State-of-the-state address, TOM’s Executive Director, Professor Wasiu Oyedokun-Alli said the prolonged strike has the backing of the state government, hence, the boldness of the union to continue to lock the courts illegally.
His words, “Since drama broke out in the State’s Judiciary in November 2023, orchestrated by the State Government’s attempt to illegally remove the State’s Chief Judge, the judiciary in Osun has been lifeless, especially due to the strike action declared by the now-ousted leadership of the Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) in the State.
“While the internal politics of JUSUN is not our immediate concern, the continued closure of the courts due to a strike action declared by the union is mindless and antithetical to the maintenance of law and order, as well as true dispensal of justice in the State.
“It is further instructive that the Osun State Government has been acting nonchalant about the continued closure of the Courts. Where a Government is not tactically encouraging an industrial action, it will be seen making efforts to resolve all issues that may have led to the industrial action in the first place. The Osun State Government has however remained silent, continued to pay judicial workers’ salaries and looking away from the current total paralysis of the courts in the State.
“We should remind the Osun Government that while the justice system is already a very important arm of a government, the courts serve more purpose than that. There are people whose livelihoods rely on the courts. There are small businesses that survive on the activities of the courts. More importantly, there are innocent people awaiting trial, who have been left to languish in prison because some people are using their lives to settle scores”.
Corroborating Oyedokun-Alli’s position, a leader of the group, Wole Oladapo berated the state government for paying the suspended staff of the Judiciary, saying such move will encourage lawlessness among workers in the state.
However, Osun State’s Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi said the government has no business with JUSUN strike, saying it is an independent pressure group fighting for its members’ welfare.
The group is just a set of rabble-rouser whose does not understand what they were talking about. We will respond to their allegation in due course”, he added.
Source: Vanguard