Abuja, Wednesday – President Bola Tinubu has made an earnest appeal to the organized labour, requesting more time to carefully examine their grievances before proceeding with a nationwide strike.
Amid indications that the Federal Government might enforce a court order restraining the organized labour from initiating a strike over the fuel subsidy withdrawal in May, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) may indeed follow through with its threat on August 2.
After holding a meeting with the National Association of Resident Doctors, where they successfully persuaded the union to defer their nationwide strike, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, conveyed Tinubu’s plea to journalists at the State House.
Tinubu, being new in office, expressed a need for sufficient time to understand and address the concerns raised by the workers, as he has not been fully briefed on all the issues. He advised the House to channel the workers’ concerns to the Chief of Staff for further examination. It was expected that the following days would witness decisive actions on these matters.
Regarding the impending strike on August 2, Abbas asserted that the House would employ a similar approach in engaging and persuading the Nigeria Labour Congress to delay the protests, giving the government more time to meet their expectations.
Simultaneously, the Federal Government held an emergency meeting with representatives from the NLC and the Trade Union Congress at the Presidential Villa, but it failed to convince the labor leaders to postpone the planned strike. The NLC President, Joe Ajaero, and TUC counterpart, Festus Osifo, were adamant about proceeding with the protest scheduled for August 2.
Ajaero affirmed that they would proceed with the protest, emphasizing that their communique clearly stated the commencement of protests from August 2. However, Osifo mentioned that both sides exchanged feedback during the meeting and the government agreed to review the inputs and respond by Friday.
The discussions during the meeting focused on interventions to bring relief, including measures related to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), mass transportation, and cleaner energy to mitigate the impact of transportation costs.
Regarding the delay in the rollout of palliatives, the Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Olu Verheijen, reassured that they were committed to getting it right and implementing the promised measures promptly.
Amidst the ongoing developments, there is concern that the Federal Government may take legal action against the labor leaders if they proceed with the strike, as a court order is in place restraining them from doing so. The government is prepared to file contempt charges if the order is disobeyed.
The NLC’s demands include the immediate reversal of all “anti-poor policies,” such as the fuel price hike, increased public school fees, and the rise in Value Added Tax, among other issues. Unless these demands are met, the country may face a nationwide strike starting from August 2.
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