THE Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has insisted that today’s protest against fuel subsidy removal would hold, as talks with the Federal Government on short-term palliatives collapsed yesterday.
This came as the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, warned that police would not tolerate any violent protest called by the NLC, and Trade Union Congress, TUC.
The Federal Government had, at yesterday’s meeting of Presidential Steering Committee on Palliatives, pleaded with labour to shelve the planned protest, saying it was doing everything possible to address its concerns.
The IGP’s warning came on a day the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, directed its affiliates and the 36 state councils to fully participate in the protest.
This is even as Pro-labour civil society groups, under the aegis of the Joint Action Front, JAF, and Campaign for Democratic Workers Rights, CDWR, asked members across the country to mobilise and join the protest.
Recall that the Nigeria labour Congress, NLC, had earlier directed it affiliates nationwide to also mobilise for the protest scheduled for today
But the IGP said the warning became necessary because of the ugly experiences of such protests in most major cosmopolitan cities in the country in the past.
Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Muyiwa Adejobi, who disclosed the IGP’s warning in a statement issued in Abuja yesterday, said: “The Acting Inspector-General of Police, IGP Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, is deeply concerned about recent developments regarding planned nationwide protests by the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and Trade Union Congress, TUC.
“While being mindful of the right to peaceful protest, as enshrined in our constitution, the IGP urges all parties involved to ensure that the planned demonstrations are conducted in a peaceful manner to prevent being hijacked by miscreants.
“The IGP, however, acknowledges the grievances raised by the labour unions and the importance of constructive dialogue, which is sine qua none, in addressing these issues.
“In light of this, the IGP orders the Commissioners of Police in charge of various commands, and supervisory Assistant Inspectors-General of Police, to engage in fruitful discussions with the NLC/TUC leadership to foster understanding and reach common grounds on the planned protests.
“A peaceful and coordinated approach is crucial to achieving meaningful solutions and preventing any form of violence or disruptions to public order, should the protests persist.
“The Nigeria Police Force reiterates its commitment to ensuring the safety and security of all citizens during the period of the planned protests as all necessary measures to facilitate the peaceful conduct of these demonstrations have been emplaced.
“However, it is hereby reaffirmed that any attempt by miscreants to exploit the situation for violent purposes viz-a-viz vandalism, gangsterism, and extortion will be met with firm, professional and commensurate lawful approach.
The Police will not tolerate any act that threatens the peace and well-being of our country. In the light of the potential challenges posed by the planned protests, the Nigeria Police Force is fully prepared to deploy all available resources to maintain law and order and to protect the lives and property of our citizens.
“The IGP, therefore, calls on all officers to be vigilant, professional, and uphold the highest standards of conduct during this period.
“The Police boss urges all stakeholders, including the NLC, TUC, and other civil society groups, to embrace peaceful dialogue as the most effective means of resolving grievances
“He also re-emphasized that the Police is committed to ensuring a secure and conducive environment for open dialogue, constructive engagement and mutaul understanding for a seamless exercise of civil rights.”
FG appeals to labour to suspend protest
The IGP’s warning notwithstanding, the federal government pleaded with organised labour to suspend the proposed strike, saying it was doing everything to ensure the hardship occasioned by the petrol subsidy removal was sorted out.
But the organised labour said the palliatives rolled out by the President in his nationwide broadcast on Monday night, was very insignificant to cushion the effect of the suffering in the country.
This is as the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Comrade Joe Ajaero was conspicuously absent at the meeting.
The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, specifically said it was going ahead with the proposed national protest on Wednesday.
Briefing State House correspondents at the end of the Presidential Steering Committee on Palliatives held at the State House, Abuja, the Chief of Staf to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, appealed to organised labour to suspend the planned protest.
He said: “We have laid out the plans, the interventions of Mr. President, as you all heard in his broadcast yesterday (Monday), we made it clear that this was just Mr. President’s initial rollout and interventions and that conversations will be ongoing as we go along.
“We appealed to Labour, we did appeal to labour to call off the protests for tomorrow (today). We found listening ears here and they did agree that they all accepted that Mr. President’s broadcast was a welcome development and that they will go back home to talk to the other leaders that are not present today (yesterday). ‘’So we’re hopeful that they will do the right thing and call off the strike tomorrow.”
However, the NLC, led by its Deputy President, Comrade Titus Amba, said there was nothing new, apart from the broadcast of President Bola Tinubu, that was presented to the committee, adding that the palliatives as rolled out by the President in his broadcast could not remedy anything.
Briefing journalists on the outcome of the meeting, the TUC President, Festus Osifo said: “We told Nigerians that we’ll be meeting today (yesterday) by 12 noon, so we came here much later. We had the conversation, and again the government team told us that what the President has put on the table is more or less like a starting point, and it’s a baseline.
“So we on our path also said yes, that we would have been surprised if that is everything that will be put forward because for us, we felt there are some gaps. For us, we felt that the President has said that N1 trillion has been saved in the last two months, that what has been proposed is not far-reaching.
“For us, you know, as part of the principle of negotiations, when anything is put on the table, you accept, but you push for more. So, on our part, we said what has been put on the table is not sufficient, it’s not enough, and that they can do more.
“So part of what we put forward was that, we will look at those things the President highlighted. We think, for example, that 3000 CNG buses are not sufficient, we think it is not sufficient. By the time you divide 3000 by 37, you can see how many they can come up to, so it’s not sufficient, it’s grossly inadequate.
We also think that some of the measures put on the table are not far-reaching. So we are also going to demand for what we think will do, so if we think 30,000 buses could do it or 40,000 buses could do it in the immediate.
“Yes, we’ll push it forward. So those were all the conversations that we had. Then on the government part, they also appealed that we should shelve the protests. Our response was that we are going to go back this evening (yesterday) and also have a conversation around that and you will hear from us at the end of that conversation.
Asked the position of labour on minimum wage increase, Osifo said: “On our part, what we’re demanding was wage award. For example, you’ve heard some states that have said we’re paying N40,000 minimum wage, so more or less they are the ones giving it. It is not the law, they are doing above the minimum wage.
‘’So for us, we felt the federal government could on their own, do above the minimum wage without much conversation, because the committee on the minimum wage has not been constituted.
“But what we have been advocating on the part of labour is wage award that doesn’t have bureaucracies, that doesn’t have much issues around the law, because the law that prescribed minimum wage said five years.
Until you amend that, no other thing can kick in. But we said for the immediate, let government come out just as some state governments have announced that paying N40,000. Some say N50,000, so they should do something like that.
“We have also heard some state say that they are going to pay PMS allowance of XYZ amount. So those are the wage awards that we are thinking and we are pushing governments to do. What they have proposed like you have heard the President say yesterday, we are taking that as a baseline. We believe strongly that the President, the state governments should do more.”
Protest ‘ll hold, NLC insists
On his part, the Deputy President of NLC, Titus Amba, when asked whether the proposed protest will still hold today, he answered in the affirmative.
He told journalists: “We’re on the same page, like the TUC national president said. Yeah, we met today (yesterday), and we discussed based on what we all left yesterday, with the mind of coming back today. We all listened to the President’s speech with an appeal that time should be given to this very government.
“We sat down, analysed it very, very well, and we came up with some issues, which I believe you heard from the TUC President where he said the president of this country did mention that within two months, the government of Nigeria was able to save at least N1trillion from subsidy removal.
To the ordinary Nigerian out there, he will conclude that there are a lot of funds kept because of this subsidy issue. So why can’t this monies be made available to cushion the suffering and yearning of all Nigerians. So these were some of the things we discussed.
“We also said the 3000 buses proposed to be made available are not sufficient. If you divide 3,000 by the number of states we have, it won’t take us anywhere. So, the government came with an appeal of shifting the intended protest tomorrow. “
On the plea for the suspension of the protest, he said: “We said no, it is not something we can discuss here, because we have other organs of the union that we have to go back to for them to look at it critically.
‘’The truth is that every Nigerian out there is boiling and waiting to see what will come out of this very meeting.
“We had to go back and maybe make a presentation to them that this is what the government has said and this is what we’re thinking, how we should go about it. So this is the decision we have now.”
Asked if the protest still would hold, he simply said “Yes, of course.”
On the absence of the NLC President, Comrade Amba said “he is indisposed to be sincere.”
TUC mobilises affiliates, others
Meanwhile, mobilisation for the protest continued yesterday, the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, directed its affiliates and the 36 state councils to fully participate in the protest.
Similarly, Pro-labour civil society groups under the aegis of the Joint Action Front, JAF and Campaign for Democratic Workers Rights, CDWR, also directed members across the country to mobilise and join the protest.
Recall that Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, had last week directed its affiliates and 36 state councils including the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja, to mobilize civil society allies, market women, traders, artisans and informal sector workers among other Nigerians for the mass protest from today.
Already, Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, MWUN, has asked workers in all port formations, including jetties across the country, to actively participate in the protest.
TUC in a statement by the President and Secretary General, Festus Osifo and Nuhu Toro, respectively, directed all its state councils in the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja, to mobilise for the protest against what it described as draconian policies of the Federal Government.
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