NLC Vows To Strengthen Actions If FG Reneges On Agreements In 14 Days 
Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) says it suspended the second day(28th February ) of the planned two-day nationwide peaceful protest against the hardship being experienced in Nigeria presently, because, the Federal Government has asked for a 7-day grace to implement the agreements with labour and that some states that were not paying minimum wage have approved payments.
The Labour union however, said it has given the Federal Government 14 Days ultimatum to implement the agreement ,and failure to do so will attract a legally backed action against the Federal Government.
Chairman, Nigeria Labour Congress, Enugu State Council, Comrade. Fabian Nwigbo, disclosed that while briefing newsmen on Wednesday at the NLC Secretariat, Enugu.
He said the NLC set aside 27th and 28th February , for peaceful protests against some government ‘s decisions that had inflicted hardship on Nigerians. His words, ” We said yesterday that we are going to let Nigerians know that we are not part of the people that brought hardship upon us. Of course , we are also suffering, we have never conspired with anybody or compromised, all of us are in this suffering .
“First of all, in 2019, government said they were paying us N30,000 minimum wage. In 2019,fuel price was less than N150 and we were given N30,000 minimum wage for those who were lucky to have it because we understand that some states up till today, have not implemented that .
Since 2019 till date , a lot had happened. Today, fuel is N700 per liter depending on where you are buying, your location and the minimum wage remained N30,000.
“When the present government of Tinubu came 29Th May,2023, he told us on that faithful day that he was sworn -in that subsidy is gone and since then , the pains, the suffering has got horrible than it was before. Then, a bag of Cement was sold N3,000, N2,700, N2,900 and last week , a bag of cement is sold for N13,000, N15,000, depending on the location. Cost of living rose to unimaginable height, such that even if minimum wage is N500,000 and the economic activities remain what they are today , it is difficult for anybody to survive.
“Look around to see the number of deaths. People die every day. It’s as a result of their inability to give us good governance for people to take care of themselves. You find out that workers’ salaries remain constant, every other thing changes and we are saying that enough is enough”, he said..
Comrade Nwigbo further said, “as we are suffering, every other person is suffering. After our protest yesterday, we had our NEC meeting and thanked Nigerians as I had done today. They came out en masse. That goes to show you that people were suffering. They are no longer comfortable with what is happening in the system. We learnt that a bag of rice is over N100,000 ( 50kg) ,and minimum wage is N30,000, so if you keep your salary for three months you cannot buy a bag of 50Kg rice. So, we have a lot of challenges in our hands, that ‘s why we are crying out.”, Comrade Nwigbo said.
He disclosed that they received a report that the Federal Government had plans to meet up labour demands and that was why they suspended tbe proposed Wednesday protest. The NLC chairman added that they also got reports that Federal Government has started paying the N35,000 wage award, but they only paid September,2023 and some states that were not paying minimum wage had approved payments.
Explaining why the suspension of the second day protest, Comrade Nwigbo said the Federal government asked NLC for a 7-Day grace to implement the agreements but NLC gave them 14 Days to see if they were truthful with what they said, “and that was why we suspended the protest, ” he said.
He disclosed that after 14 days, if the Federal Government failed to keep the agreements and better the lives of the people, they will come together National Executive Council (NEC) and take decisions.
“Like I told you, if after 14 days, nothing reasonable, nothing has happened manifestly to show that there is a positive difference, definitely, we will come together and look at what the law permits us to do., which includes indefinite strike, which includes further demonstration , which includes warning strikes and we will look at what is more potent for us to take . We are not going to fold our arms. We are out , we will continue until an average Nigerian gets what he wants,” Nwigbo said
Fielding questions from newsmen on why Trade Union Congress(TUC) did not join in the protest, the NLC chairman said they were working together with TUC, explaining that ,while “TUC is saying borders should be opened to ensure that consumable are. brought into the country and NLC says Nigerians are suffering, at the end of the day, all of them are struggling to see that Nigeria gets better.
“The difference is the process we followed to ensure that we get desired results, to ensure that hunger is reduced, to ensure that insecurity is reduced in Nigeria”, he said.
On why they did not take the protest to the streets of the Enugu, the NLC chairman said the police said they cannot afford to contain what may come out. “That they can guarantee our safety here within and around Secretariat but not beyond because they don’t know what is awaiting us. In their own way, they had their reasons. We were thinking that ordinarily, they would have just increased the number of manpower but they know the best. When it comes to security they are ahead of us,”Nwigbo said .
On insecurity, he lamented high rate of insecurity in the country ,attributing that to a major reason for high cost of living . ” The cost of food items had risen beyond acceptable level because farmers don’t go to farm again. We heard that in some parts of the North, you have to pay tax before you could access you farm, to the bandits, which means they are not faceless, they are known and we are saying government should go after them ,so as to allow an average Nigerian rest”, Nwigbo said.
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Sam Udekwe is a journalist working in the News and Current Affairs department, Enugu State Broadcasting Service (ESBS) Enugu. He is well trained in all genres of journalistic venture.
Mr Sam read Mass Communication, graduating all with Distinction in National Diploma, Higher National Diploma and Postgraduate Diploma at IMT, Enugu and Madonna University, Okija, Anambra state, while he is presently on his M.Sc programme also in Mass Communication, at National Open University of Nigeria.
He was the NUJ Chairman, Enugu state who handed over to the Caretaker Committee currently in the Council.
samowailo@gmail.com
