The Nigeria Labour Congress’s nationwide protests have drawn criticism from the Presidency, which claims that some individuals are using the circumstances in the nation to further their political goals.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, in an interview with TVC on Tuesday, monitored by one of our correspondents, said protests organised across the country by the NLC were unnecessary.Nigerians protesting the country’s economic hardship on Tuesday included workers from the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Lagos, Ibadan, Kano, Benin, Osogbo, Akure, Port Harcourt, Sokoto, Jos, Katsina, and other urban centers.Following the Federal Government’s removal of fuel subsidies and other economic reforms, Nigerians have been facing financial challenges.The NLC began a two-day demonstration on Tuesday to voice its displeasure with the hardships facing the nation and to put pressure on the federal and state governments to address the issue of hunger nationwide.In response to the government’s failure to carry out the agreements reached on October 2, the NLC and Trade Union Congress gave notice of a nationwide strike for 14 days on February 8. This came after the fuel subsidy was removed.The Federal Government’s failure to meet its promises to address the economic crisis prompted the unions to issue a protest notice, which was later withdrawn by the TUC due to the NLC’s inability to support it.The Federal Government convened a last-minute meeting on Monday in an attempt to talk the NLC leadership out of continuing with the protest, even though NLC President Joe Ajaero had declared that it would happen.The presidential spokesperson, Ngelale, insisted that there was no need for the protest and that the Federal Government had started working to lessen the suffering in the nation.Citing the TUC and National Association of Nigerian Students’ withdrawal from the protests, Ngelale claimed that there was no consensus behind the NLC’s action.”Any labor union that is speaking to the pains that our people are feeling, the concerns of Nigerian families, is absolutely free to do so,” he declared. Nigerians have a right to speak up in trying circumstances.Furthermore, the government has been making every effort to allay those worries. However, we also wish to distinguish between those who are attempting to use certain national circumstances to further their political agendas and those who are voicing justifiable concerns through some of the labor unions.The Trade Union Congress has reportedly withdrew from the planned national demonstration. The National Association of Nigerian Students withdrew from the demonstration. There is no unanimity behind what the NLC is trying to do. I believe all of the legitimate concerns being raised by the unions are being tackled by the administration of President Bola Tinubu.”In the meantime, the president of NLC has bemoaned the difficulties facing the nation.After leading the workers to the National Assembly in Abuja, Ajaero gave Senator Diket Plang, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Labor, Employment, and Productivity, the demands of the workers, and Tinubu, the president, received them.In his speech to the National Assembly, the president of the NLC claimed that hunger was the reason why Nigerians had started the nonviolent protests and that Nigeria was starting to resemble Zimbabwe.According to Ajaero, the protest would send a message to the government telling it to start addressing the nation’s problems right away.