Nigerians are breathing a sigh of relief after the nationwide strike by electricity workers was suspended in the early hours of Thursday.
The suspension may be temporary if the issues raised by the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) are not addressed.
On Wednesday, electricity workers shut down the headquarters of Ikeja Electric and Eko Electricity Distribution Company in Ikeja and Marina, Lagos.
The decision to embark on the indefinite strike came after unresolved dialogue between the Federal Government and the NUEE. The dialogue was to deal with the persistent industrial crisis in the sector.
President of the NUEE, Joe Ajaero, in a statement, accused the Bureau of Public Enterprises of failing to address the lingering issues. The statement also highlighted the failure to pay off over 2,000 disengaged workers of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria since 2013.
In a separate statement issued by the Assistant Secretary-General of NUEE, Anthony Sule, the 21-day ultimatum given to the Minister of Power, Saleh Mamman, had expired at midnight on Tuesday.
The Ministry of Power had failed to resolve some of the issues affecting members of the union since 2013 when the power sector was privatized.
In what seemed like a rare glimpse of hope, the NUEE, at about 6:06 am early this morning, Nigeria time, tweeted that it has suspended its strike, saying its offices and payment channels have been reopened across the nation.
However, the union said it will not hesitate to resume the strike action if the agreements reached between the leaders of the union and representatives of government are not implemented.