BY CHIKA OKEKE, Abuja
Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has crippled economic activities as workers commenced a two-day peaceful protest nationwide over the escalating hunger and insecurity in the country.
The workers carried placards with inscriptions such as: "End hunger and poverty, Reject IMF/World Bank policies, End Naira devaluation, Support local production”.
Others are: “Stop the profligacy in government, subsidise the poor, Fix local refineries, end subsidy, Remove tax on drugs, our health matters, among others.
Addressing the workers at the National Assembly on Tuesday in Abuja, NLC President, Comrade Joe Ajaero pleaded with the Federal Government to resolve hunger, hardship and end naira devaluation.
News Rider reports that on February 16, NLC had at the end of its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting declared its intention to embark on a two-day nationwide protest from February 27 to 28, over the worsening economic hardship and insecurity in the country.
Ajaero said that the essence of the protest was to inform President Bola Tinubu that Nigerians are hungry, as well as to register their grievances over the level of suffering in the country.
“We are also here to register our complaints before Nigerians, the level of suffering and hunger in the land.
“We are here to call on the Federal Government to immediately address the issue of hunger in the country.
“There is nobody that does not know that a bag of rice is over N70, 000 or more, we cannot even buy indomie; even bread is out of reach and with N30, 000 minimum wage, if you eat a loaf of bread everyday, you will be spending over N40,000, " he added.
Ajaero wondered why the Federal Government had consistently reneged on the distribution of palliatives to alleviate the plight of workers since the removal of fuel subsidy on May 29, 2023.
He stated that governance should always centre around the welfare and security of the citizens, pleading with the government to open all food storage silos and enforce equitable distribution across the country.
The labour leader harped on the need for the government to implement the welfare of Nigerians as enshrined in Chapter two of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
He listed some of the key provisions as the creation of employment opportunities for citizens through massive investment in agriculture and value-added manufacturing.
To avert hunger crisis, Ajaero noted that the government should immediately provide subsidies to farmers to boost agriculture and guarantee food security.
He challenged the government to fix all the abandoned four refineries, which he said should be urgently addressed.
Ajaero enjoined the government to revive local production and patronise Made-in-Nigeria goods and services.
He informed that electricity and water should be available, affordable and accessible to all citizens, given the biting climatic condition.
While calling on the government to invest massively on road-rail infrastructure and social housing, he emphasised the need for the deployment of cheap mass transportation, buses powered by CNG to ease the transportation crisis for the poor.
“Government must put an end to further privatisation and liberalisation of the economy and take control of the commanding heights of the economy in line with the Nigerian Constitution.
“Go after the oil subsidy cabal and other economic saboteurs instead of helpless Nigerians, put a stop to all dollarisation of the Nigerian economy.
“They must also put a stop to wasteful spending and profligacy in government, and there should be proper and adequate funding of education and health care at all levels, ”he said.
In addition to the protest, the labour president presented a letter containing 17- point demand of the Congress.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Employment, Labour and Productivity, Diket Plang, who received the letter praised the workers for the peaceful protest.
Plang assured that NASS would facilitate the passage of the minimum wage bill, promising to look into the demands of the workers as captured in the letter.
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