Subsidy removal: Labour Insists Protest holds Wednesday, Questions Tinubu’s Sincerity on Interventions

The Organised Labour has questioned the sincerity of the interventions proposed by President Bola Tinubu in his state of the nation broadcast to ease the effects of the removal of fuel subsidy and other economic policies on Nigerians.

However, Labour has vowed to proceed with its scheduled protest and strike against the elimination of the petroleum subsidy, claiming that what Tinubu told Nigerians in his nationwide broadcast was irrelevant given the lack of direct assistance to Nigerians after two months in office.

His broadcast came after the planned protests and strike by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), scheduled to commence on Wednesday, August 2.

Tinubu had, in his broadcast on Monday, July 31, highlighted his administration’s plans to ease the hardship faced by Nigerians following the removal of petrol subsidy, promising creating jobs, supporting businesses, alleviating poverty and revamping the economy.

However, after several meeting with the government officials which includes the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila and the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, among the government representative, which ended in deadlock, the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Joe Ajaero has insisted that the plan for workers to continue with a peaceful protest starting tomorrow had not changed.

Ajaero expressed doubts about Tinubu’s ability to control inflation and gasoline prices due to the unification of the exchange rate.

Ajaero said: “By the time you have a single market and you are not having anything that has a comparative advantage, your energy is import driven, then how are you going to control it? How are you going to control somebody that exchanged dollars at about 900 (naira)? Are you going to tell him to sell below the price?”

“How are you going to tell even NEPA (DisCos) today, with the cost of production, not to increase tariff? Even corn in the villages that was sold at N18, 000 by February now it’s about 56,000. How are you going to control it?”

Ajaero allayed the fears that the peaceful protest could be hijacked by hoodlums, stressing that it had never happened in the history of workers’ protests.

He explained that it was the responsibility of security agencies to provide security for the protest to protect the workers.