NLC Adamant On Wednesday strike, Says No going Back

By Jerry Aguigbo
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) is insisting that the planned Wednesday mass action must hold. The Union has commenced mass mobilisation ahead of its planned nationwide strike to protest the fuel subsidy removal and the resultant hardship which the masses have been thrown into.
The NLC has called on Nigerians to “join us at the Unity Fountain, Abuja on Wednesday, August 2, 2023, at 7 am.”
According to Congress, “there is nowhere in the world where government leaves its citizens totally to the vagaries of the market without some measure of control and protection. The Federal Government should immediately deal decisively with the criminal content of subsidy instead of exposing ordinary citizens to avoidable pain and hardship.
“As a matter of national importance, it is imperative to fix all our refineries to be able to cater to domestic fuel consumption,” the NLC said.
Also speaking on the recent monetary policies of the President Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government, the NLC said, “We are concerned that no government acting reasonably leaves its national currency to forces of the market.”
The NLC harped on the need for the government to expedite its removal of all “anti-poor policies”, and release the withheld salaries of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, among others.
The NLC also urged the Federal government to be serious with her engagement with the labour unions.
Recall that the removal of fuel subsidy by the Federal government has led to a rise in the pump price of fuel which has since risen to over N600 in some areas and N700 in other places. With an attendant high cost of transportation and an exponential cost of living for Nigerians to grapple with.