The Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, has commenced mass mobilisation of its members for the industrial showdown slated for Wednesday, 2nd August, 2023 over the hardship being experienced by Nigerian workers.
NLC has called on concerned Nigerians to join them in the strike protest which is scheduled to take off from the Unity Fountain, Abuja at on Wednesday, August 2, 2023. The NLC laments, “There is nowhere in the world where government leaves its citizens totally to the vagaries of the market without some measure of control and protection. The Federal Government should immediately deal decisively with the criminal content of subsidy instead of exposing ordinary citizens to avoidable pain and hardship.
The labour leaders added “As a matter of national importance, it is imperative to fix all our refineries to be able to cater to domestic fuel consumption.”
Speaking on the Tinubu policy on naira to dollar window exchange rate, NLC said, “We are concerned that no government acting reasonably leaves its national currency to forces of the market.”
Making a case to drive its demand home, NLC reiterated the need for the Tinubu administration to review the “anti Masses policies” his government deployed that is killing Nigerians, and to immediately release the salaries of University lecturers the last administration withheld, among others.
The labour leaders accused President Tinubu of playing games with the lives of Nigerians, as they are slated to hold a meeting with the federal government today.
The National Treasurer, NLC, Hakeem Ambali, recounted how the government shunned the Friday, July 28, 2023 meeting with labour leaders at the State House, while questioning how the National Assembly hurriedly approved the sum of seventy billion for themselves as palliatives while ignoring the masses.
The congress said, “Government needs to take engagement with Labour seriously. The government’s economic policy had meted untold hardship on Nigerian people and workers’ patience is running out. How can the government approve about N70bn to National Assembly members and about N35bn to the judiciary, those who are very comfortable in terms of salary, and continue to play game with Labour?”
Meanwhile, the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities have also begun nationwide mobilisation of their members for the strike the NLC has scheduled for Wednesday.
Similarly, the National President of ASUP, Anderson Ezeibe, said, “Of course, we will join the protest.”
It was also learned that some northern youths, under the aegis of the Arewa Citizen Watch for Good Governance, on Sunday, said they were set to hit the streets of Abuja to protest the subsidy removal, which, they said, had inflicted pains and hunger on them.
Also, some northern youths, under the aegis of the Arewa Citizen Watch for Good Governance, on Sunday, affirmed that they were going to join the protest the subsidy removal, which, they said, had inflicted pains and hunger on them.
The youths also called for the sacking of the Group Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian National Petroleum Limited, Mele Kyari, for allegedly misleading the President on the subsidy removal.
This was just as they warned against renewing the Pipeline Surveillance Contract to a former Niger Delta militant, Government Tompolo, by the NNPCL.
The youth group’s Publicity Secretary, Aminu Abbas, alleged that the NNPCL boss is the brain behind the renewal of the pipeline contract to Tompolo.
According to him, protecting oil pipelines and other national assets should be the responsibility of the nation’s armed forces, their failure of which should attract a vote of no confidence be passed against them.
However, the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association, NECA, on Sunday, appealed to the NLC to reconsider the planned strike “due to potential threats to sustainable enterprises, decent work, national development, and our industrial relations system.”
NECA through a statement said, “We urge the government to, as a matter of urgency, take immediate steps to ameliorate the economic trauma being faced by workers, Nigerians, and organised businesses. It is no gainsaying that many businesses are shut down and many others are on the verge of closing, which will exacerbate the current unemployment rate and drag many further down the poverty line,” NECA said.
Although, President Tinubu claimed that the Federal Government was receiving support and commendations from the global communities over the removal of fuel subsidy and the foreign exchange regime policies.
Tinubu made this claim at a Gala/Award Night on Saturday, organised by the office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation to recognise and honour outstanding civil servants to mark the 2023 Civil Service Week, according to a statement released by the HOCSF on Sunday.