In the midst of the ongoing protests sparked by the removal of petrol subsidy, President Bola Tinubu has met with leaders of the Organised Labour towards resolving their grievances.
The meeting, held at the State House in Abuja yesterday, was aimed at addressing the concerns and economic difficulties arising from the subsidy removal.
The national president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, in a chat with State House correspondents expressed satisfaction at the discussions with the president.
He, however, said there was no definitive assurance regarding the cancellation or continuation of the nationwide protests against the economic challenges arising from the petrol subsidy removal.
“We met with him. The issues we discussed are the same issues that led to the protest today. He has expressed his position, made some commitment, which were taken side-by-side with what the Senate said, and we’re taking it back to the office with our colleagues to review it and release a document on our next line of action. And by tomorrow, the NLC will equally have their NEC meeting, to look at the bigger picture,” he said.
When asked if the president told them to suspend the protest, he said “The president is a pro-democracy activist. So, he understands protests.”
Our Meeting With Tinubu Fruitful – Organised Labour
The organised labour yesterday said its meeting with President Bola Tinubu hours after the nationwide protest was fruitful.
They said immense mileage was gotten with regards to the issues that bogged down the work of the Presidential Committee on Subsidy Removal which necessitated the protest.
According to Ajaero and Osifo, President Tinubu, who had a closed-door meeting with the labour leaders at the Presidential Villa, spoke with certainty that the Port Harcourt refinery will commence production by December 2023.
They disclosed that the president also committed to an immediate restructuring of the framework for engagement in line with the input of the Labour leaders and to ensure that agreement is reached on the wage award for Nigerian workers immediately.
He equally promised to unveil a workable roadmap to the CNG alternative next week.
“On the strength of the president’s pledge and commitment, we have decided for a return to a new and reinvigorated dialogue process to allow for full implementation. Once again, we thank Nigerians while we wait for the government to fulfill its own part of the understanding as agreed with His Excellency,” they said.
LEADERSHIP reports that across the states of the federation yesterday, members of the NLC and Trade Union Congress (TUC ) trooped out to commence their planned nationwide protest.
In Abuja, the protest started at approximately 9:30am, beginning from the Unity Fountain, then proceeding through the Federal Ministry of Justice to the National Assembly. There was a heavy presence of security personnel.
LEADERSHIP reports that the organised labour was protesting against what they termed “anti-poor policies” implemented by the federal government, including the recent increase in fuel prices, school fees, value-added tax, and other issues.
Also, LEADERSHIP reports that when the security officials didn’t comply with the protesters’ request to open the gate, they angrily pulled down the gate of the National Assembly complex in Abuja.
The organised labour also countered claims by President Bola Tinubu that over N1trillion had been saved following the removal of fuel subsidy in June.
In his speech, Tinubu said, “In a little over two months, we have saved over a trillion Naira that would have been squandered on the unproductive fuel subsidy which only benefitted smugglers and fraudsters. That money will now be used more directly and more beneficially for you and your families.”
But while reacting to the development during the nationwide protest at the National Assembly complex in Abuja, NLC president Joseph Ajaero disclosed that no single kobo was saved from the subsidy removal.
“The committee where we are meeting, they told us that no one kobo is saved. Therefore, we have not agreed on what to say anywhere. So, who do we believe? Is it the committee? Is it Mr President?” Ajaero queried.
Addressing the workers, Ajaero emphatically conveyed to the federal government that Nigerians were suffocating due to the cascading effects of the fuel subsidy removal.
The labour leader warned the federal government not to further provoke workers beyond the protest through anti-poor policies.
“We want to make a case that Nigerians can no longer breathe. That’s the message we brought here; that we have been suffering and a slave has nothing to lose than his chest.
“It has gotten to our neck and we can’t breathe again. We have waited for this long to see whether salvation will come, salvation is not forthcoming. We waited with great enthusiasm to listen to Mr. President, to bring succour to all of us so that from that day, Nigerians will celebrate, move into the streets and hail our President.
“But I think we did not get that. We decided to use Nigerians as our barometer to see their response to Mr. President’s speech. But that wasn’t what we expected, almost two months after the subsidy was removed and the cost of living went up, there is no concrete move to ameliorate the sufferings. No worker has gotten one naira extra”, he added.
Similarly, the national president of TUC, Comrade Festus Osifo urged the federal government to cut down the cost of governance.
In Ogun State, the workers led by the leadership of NLC and TUC, converged on the State Secretariat of NLC located at the Lemme/NNPC axis of the Abiola Way in Abéòkúta, the state capital as early as 7:30am from where they proceeded to the governor’s office in Oke Mosan State Secretariat Complex where they delivered a letter to the governor for onward transmission to the President.
Addressing participants before proceeding to the peaceful rally, leadership of the duo of the NLC and TUC State chairmen, Hammed Ademola and Akeem Lasisi demanded the immediate reversal of all anti-poor policies of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.
They described the removal of fuel subsidy, and hikes in school fees and VAT as anti-people policies.
In Ekiti State, the workers called on the federal government to abolish some of the policies that it said had brought untold hardship to Nigerians.
The chairman of NLC, Comrade Kolapo Olatunde, and his TUC counterpart, Comrade Sola Adigun, led other protesters who took to the streets of Ado Ekiti, the state capital, as early as 8am to register their displeasure at the development.
The procession led by the labour leaders started from the Labour House at Egbewa area of the town and ended at the governor’s office where a letter addressed to President Bola Tinubu, entitled, “Nigerians workers and people are undergoing massive suffering and deprivation as a result of your policies” was presented to Governor Biodun Abayomi.
The letter was received by the Secretary to the State Government, Dr (Mrs) Habibat Adubiaro, and Head of Service, Mr Bamidele Agbede on behalf of the governor with the promise to deliver it to President Tinubu.
In Osun State, members of CSOs, NLC, TUC and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) trooped out in their numbers yesterday to protest federal government policies that are inflicting pains on Nigerians.
The protesters who defied an early morning rain to converge on the Freedom Park, Osogbo as early as 8am with placards with different inscriptions demanding the abolition of all policies that have made life unbearable for Nigerians.
Members of ASUU who joined the protest called on the President Bola Tinubu administration to offset the eight-month withheld salaries of its members, as well as roll out measures to cushion the effect of the subsidy removal.
Workers in Kaduna State under the TUC and NLC held a peaceful protest and described as an insult the proposed N8000 palliatives for poor Nigerians.
The state chairman of NLC, Comrade Ayuba Suleiman while addressing the workers during the peaceful protest in Kaduna said that the proposed N8000 palliative is an insult on Nigerians and should be rejected by all and sundry.
Suleiman advised Tinubu to instead use the proposed N8,000 proposed palliative to revive the country’s refineries.
More than 2,000 workers and members of the civil society organisations on Wednesday joined the nationwide protest organised by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) in Rivers State.
Addressing the workers before the commencement of the protest march, NLC chairman in the state, Ikechukwu Onyefuru, said since May 29, 2023 when President Bola Ahmed Tinubu announced the removal of fuel subsidy, nothing has been done to cushion the effect of the government action.
“That is why we are here today, as a people united in the faith, to liberate ourselves. The Nigerian government must appreciate the fact that Nigerian workers are suffering,” he said.
Workers in Ebonyi State joined their counterparts across the Federation to protest what they described as anti-human policies of the federal government.
The workers who converged at the Pa Ngele Orunta Township Staduim between the hours of 7:30am and 8am were seen with placards with various inscriptions.
The workers marched from the Pa Ngele Orunta Township Staduim down to old Government House Abakaliki, back to Kpirikpiri Junction and ended the protest at the stadium.
The Bauchi State chairman of NLC, Comrade Dauda Shuaibu led a procession of members of the union during a joint protest with TUC to the office of Bauchi State Head of Service.
He said, “Many citizens today could not afford one square meal a day, not to talk of the normal two or three square meals for the average working class.
“The cost of living and transportation to our working places has multiplied three times. We can no longer put food on the table of our families, we have been disorganized and for the past two months nothing has changed to give hope that something better or significant is coming as a relief to reduce the hardship we are grappling with.”
Members of the organised labour and civil society groups in Ilorin, Kwara State, yesterday staged a peaceful protest against the withdrawal of fuel subsidy.
Determined to ensure law and order, the state commissioner of Police, Ebunoluwaritimi Adelesi, led policemen on a surveillance operation.
Adelesi and her team were spotted along Ahmadu Bello Way, Ilorin, mounting surveillance.
The protesting workers commenced their rally at the Labour House, besides Kwara State High Court Complex, along Lajorin street, GRA, Ilorin, the state capital. They marched through the Offa road extension, Flower garden area, Governor’s Office before they arrived at the main entrance of the Government House, Ilorin. They later moved to the office of the deputy governor, Mr Kayode Alabi, who addressed them and assured them that their message would be passed to the appropriate quarters.
NASS Appeals For One Week To Intervene
The Senate chief whip, Sen. Ali Ndume, while addressing the protesting labour union members at the National Assembly yesterday, appealed to the protesters to allow the National Assembly to join in the negotiation between the labour union and the presidency.
Ndume, who particularly demanded one week for the intervention, told the labour union protesters that if the one week elapsed without any tangible results, the union should go back on their planned strike.
He said, “The National Assembly is your representative. We have a problem in this country and we have to solve these problems ourselves. Let me tell you that whether we like it or not, as your representatives, we must represent you.
“There was a motion that we passed on Monday in which all the senators were co-sponsors; that motion was on why the negotiation stopped. We have a problem. Please have confidence in the National Assembly or give us a trial; let the leadership of the Senate be involved in the negotiation between the NLC and the presidency.
“We cannot afford to betray you or fail you; if we do that, after four years, we will come back to look for your votes. We should find a permanent solution to the problem on the ground, and the solutions can be achieved.
“Do not shut down the system, if you shut down the system, then everybody will suffer. Please give us a chance to intervene, after one week, if will fail you, then you can go back to your position. This should serve as a warning to the presidency, the National Assembly, that if nothing very tangible comes out of our efforts, then you can take action,” he said.
Also, the House of Representatives appealed to the NLC and allied labour unions to call off the peaceful protest.
The House, in a statement by its spokesperson, Hon. Akin Rotimi, asked the unions to embrace continuous dialogue as a means of achieving the best interest of hardworking Nigerian workers, without worsening the current hardship they are facing.
“As representatives of the people, the House of Representatives is fully aware and empathises with Nigerians on account of the hardship being experienced as a result of the removal of fuel subsidy.
“We also acknowledge the rights of the NLC to carry out peaceful protests as a means of clamouring for relief for Nigerian workers as we go through these challenging times.
“We would however continue to impress it on the executive arm of government to expedite the implementation of the palliative measures announced by President Tinubu in his broadcast on Monday, and urge for the federal government to consider additional measures that would bring immediate respite to the people, while we wait to see the impact of the measures already announced in the coming months.
“The gap between the removal of fuel subsidy and the tangible outcomes of palliative measures must be shortened for the sake of poor and vulnerable Nigerians.
“It is our considered opinion that embarking on a protest at this time would in effect shutdown our economy and further disrupt the lives of Nigerians, and therefore not in our best interest,” the statement read.
CSOs Seeks Comprehensive Social Protection Programme
Also, 17 civil society organisations (CSOs) have called on the federal government to introduce a comprehensive social protection programme to aid the poor and vulnerable and alleviate poverty.
The call was made during a meeting on petrol subsidy removal and palliatives held yesterday in Abuja.
The CSOs expressed concern about the government’s initiatives to mitigate the harsh economic and social impacts of the subsidy removal policy on citizens. They emphasized the need to update and transparently share information from the nation’s social register to ensure the proper distribution of funds to the masses.
The communique was signed by leaders from various CSOs, including David Ugolor of ANEEJ; Abiola Akiode of WARDC: Monday Osasah of Centre LSD; Ene Ede of Equity Advocate: Funmi Akinyele of Food Basket Nigeria; Rommy Mom of Lawyers Alert: Olive Igbuzor of Centre LSD: Nelson Nwafor of FENRAD: Tijani Abdulkareem of SERDEC and David Anyaele of CCD.
Others are Y. Z. Ya’U of CITAD: Udy Akpan of YAF: Emem Okon of KEBETKACHE: Faith Nwadishi of CTA: Egedegbe Edewor of VREI; Idris Miliki of CHRCR and Obialunanma Nnaobi-Ayodele of Meluibe Foundation.
Moreover, the CSOs urged for strategic communication of the implementation stages of the social protection policy, considering the endemic corruption and lack of trust in the government.
The CSOs highlighted the potential of social protection policies, combined with enlightened leadership and grassroots pressure, to lift people out of poverty, citing successful examples in China and India.
They also stressed the importance of updating the Nigeria Social Register (NSR) and creating awareness about its compilation and the names on the register.
Nationwide Protest : Organised Labour Receives Summons For Contempt Of Court
By Adegwu John, Abuja
The leadership of the organised labour has received summons for a charge of contempt of court following its nationwide protest yesterday.
Although it is not clear who issued the summons, a statement issued hours after the nationwide protest by NLC national president, Comrade Joseph Ajaero and his TUC counterpart, Comrade Festus Osifo informed Nigerian workers about the development.
The labour centres urged workers to be vigilant as they remain resolute in commitment to the protection of the interests and welfare of the Nigerian people.
The statement reads: “Having demonstrated our collective resolve through the strong signal we sent today (yesterday) across Nigeria, we urge vigilance on the part of all workers and masses to protect our nation and our decisions while we await the response of the government through the National Assembly as was assured by their representatives during the protest.
“It is also important that we inform Nigerians that we have just received a court summons purporting to charge us with contempt of court. We urge all Nigerians to be vigilant because it appears that the days of long knives are here with us again.”
