NLC
NLC mobilizes workers for strike on Wednesday. The Nigeria Labour Congress has begun mass mobilization in preparation for a statewide strike due to begin on Wednesday to protest the hardship caused by the loss of fuel subsidies.
The NLC encouraged Nigerians to “join us at the Unity Fountain, Abuja on Wednesday, August 2, 2023, at 7 a.m.” in a schedule received by our correspondent in Abuja on Sunday.
“Nowhere in the world does government abandon its citizens completely to the whims 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.
“As a matter of national importance, it is imperative to fix all our refineries to be able to cater to domestic fuel consumption,” the NLC said.
The NLC stated further on the current monetary policies enacted by the President Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government, “We are concerned that no government acting reasonably leaves its national currency to market forces.”
Insisting on its demands, the union urged the government to quickly rescind all “anti-poor policies” and release the Academic Staff Union of Universities’ withheld salary, among other things.
Ahead of its meeting with the Federal Government scheduled to be held today (Monday) and the nationwide strike scheduled to begin on Wednesday, the NLC said the Tinubu-led administration was playing games with the lives of Nigerians.
The congress also called on the government to take seriously the engagement with the labour unions.
Speaking in an interview with our correspondent in Abuja on Sunday, the National Treasurer, NLC, Hakeem Ambali, recounted how the government shunned the Friday, July 28, 2023 meeting with labour leaders at the State House.
He further questioned the government’s intentions for approving N70bn as palliatives for members of the National Assembly while it continued to “play games” with labour.
He 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, academic unions, such as 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 scheduled to commence on Wednesday.
The national presidents of the two unions, in separate interviews with our correspondent in Abuja, noted that as affiliate members of the NLC, they would join in the strike.
The National President, SSANU, Muhammed Ibrahim, said, “We are actively going to participate.”
Similarly, the National President of ASUP, Anderson Ezeibe, said, “Of course, we will join the protest.”
Also, 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.
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.
Addressing journalists in Kaduna on Sunday, the group’s Publicity Secretary, Aminu Abbas, fingered the NNPCL boss as 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, failure of which a vote of no confidence would be passed in them.
The group demanded Kyari’s sacking, threatening that it would mobilise its members across the 19 northern states and Abuja, to storm the Federal Capital Territory in protest against the subsidy removal.
However, on Sunday, the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association urged the NLC to reconsider the scheduled strike “due to potential threats to sustainable enterprises, decent work, national development, and our industrial relations system.”
In a statement, the NECA voiced concern that the planned strike “could potentially disrupt the economic activities of businesses, particularly those in the formal and informal sectors, jeopardizing sustainability and job creation.”
“We urge the government to take immediate steps to alleviate the economic trauma being experienced by workers, Nigerians, and organized businesses.” There is no denying that many firms have closed or are on the verge of collapsing, which will exacerbate the present unemployment rate and push people further into poverty.
Also, the President has said the Federal Government was receiving support and commendations from the global communities over the removal of fuel subsidy and the foreign exchange regime policies, saying they were yielding positive results.
According to a statement released by the HOCSF on Sunday, Tinubu stated this during a Gala/Award Night on Saturday organized by the office of the Head of the public Service of the Federation to recognize and honor exceptional public servants to commemorate the 2023 Civil Service Week.
Tinubu, who was represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, thanked civil servants for their contributions to the country’s economic success.
The President said, “We shall, without delay, cushion the pains being experienced by our people as a result of these measures through several well-targeted interventions aimed at giving adequate relief and succour to a great number of our long-suffering citizens,” he said.