By Miracle Ogunde
The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC says the rationale behind the ongoing protests nationwide is to call the government’s attention towards addressing hunger ravaging the land and not about minimum wage implementation.
Members of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, today stormed the streets of Lagos and other states to express their grievances over the current economic hardship.
They are also protesting government’s alleged failure to implement agreements reached between both parties on October 2, 2023, following the removal of fuel subsidy.
Addressing newsmen during the protest, NLC President, Joe Ajaero, says Nigerians are hungry, calling the government to feel the pains of the masses and take necessary measures to address it.
In his words, “We are here for a rally so that Mr. President can know how Nigerians feel. We are out today to do a protest to register Nigeria’s level of suffering and we are calling it peaceful rally.
“We held meetings late in the night on Sunday and Monday and all was to stop the protest.
“We are hungry, there’s hunger in the land. There’s nobody that doesn’t know that a bag of rice is about #70,000 now or more. We can’t buy indomie, we can’t buy anything. Everything is out of reach.
“We’re going to tell government, the whole world so they can take measures to know where the hardship pinches. Food produced in the country is being exported because people prefer to sell to countries around us with high currency.”
Ajaero also berated the Nigeria customs for the stampede that cost the lives of seven people during food distribution at the Zonal headquarters in Lagos, saying the customs is yet to compensate the families of the victims.
“What is responsible for the death of the people? Is it not hunger. There’s absolute hunger. Should we keep quiet and die?”
While refuting insinuations that the protest is based on implementation of new minimum wage for workers, the NLC President said “This protest is about hunger. What about those that are not working? When will the minimum wage be completed and implemented? What will be the minimum wage that will remove hunger? The UN said the poorest man should be fed on two dollars per day.”
The decision of the labour union to embark on a nationwide protests followed the conclusion of a 14-day ultimatum issued to the Federal Government to implement measures against the widespread hardship.
Meanwhile, the meeting between the federal government and the NLC last night ended in deadlock, as the union vowed to kick off the protest, which is expected to continue tomorrow.
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