The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has urged President Bola Tinubu to meet with the leaders planning a nationwide protest against the growing hardship in Nigeria. The NLC is asking the President to also address the tough conditions that the people are facing.
In a statement issued on Monday, NLC President Joe Ajaero said, “As the date for the highly anticipated national protest approaches, the Nigeria Labour Congress is calling on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to sit down with the leaders of the protest movement to discuss their concerns.”
Ajaero explained that with inflation soaring to 34.19 percent, along with rising food prices and electricity costs, it is crucial for President Tinubu to address these issues.
He added, “It is insulting and dismissive to label the daily suffering that Nigerians are enduring as just a politically motivated protest. Even if the protests do have political motives, it is still the right of citizens to protest on such grounds. However, the current distress in the country doesn’t need any political push to ignite or escalate.”
The NLC emphasized that all the citizens are asking for is for the government to listen and show empathy. “Perhaps what the protest organizers are seeking is simply for the government to hear their grievances, as indicated by their repeated notices on various social media platforms,” Ajaero said.
The NLC criticized the Nigerian government for its “hostility” towards the planned protest, stating that it does not offer any real solutions to the suffering of the people or the frustration of having so little in a country where a few are living in extreme luxury at the expense of the majority. “These are tough times, and Nigerians are very angry,” Ajaero said.
He concluded, “In these times, the government should choose dialogue over conflict with its citizens. You cannot hit a child and then expect the child not to cry.”
