Subsidy removal: Labour outcry deepens as NLC plans another nationwide strike
…Give me more time to address grievances — Tinubu
…Why we are yet to roll out palliatives – FG gives reasons
…Court injunction in view, as FG mulls next action
…Abbas to meet resident doctors, others on Thursday
The outcry of the organised labour over harsh conditions posed by the discontinuation of payment of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly called petrol, has deepened with lamentations and regrets as the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), has issued another seven-day ultimatum to the Federal Government to reverse all what it described as “anti-people policies,” or face the reactions of workers with a nationwide strike.
The organised labour has further cried foul that the government is in the business of robbing the masses to feed the rich.
The NLC in its lamentation said: “The government seems to have declared a war of attrition on Nigerian workers and masses without any care leaving them to the throes of hopelessness and helplessness.”
The organised labour in a communique released at the end of the Central Working Committee, CWC, meeting held Tuesday, July 25, at Abuja Labour House, demanded “the immediate reversal of all anti-poor policies of the federal government including the recent hike in PMS price, increase in public school fees, the release of the eight months withheld salary of university lecturers and workers and increase in VAT.”
In the document signed by President and General Secretary of NLC, Joe Ajaero and Emma Ugboaja, respectively, the NLC said, “The federal government has refused to put in place safeguards to protect Nigerians from the harsh economic situation that its policies have inflicted on the people rather it has decided to insult the sensibilities of Nigerian masses by offering us N8,000 per family and offering themselves N70 billion.
“The federal government has frustrated and abandoned its own committee which was a product of social dialogue between the government and workers organisations in the country.
“While the committee has not met, the government embarked on unilateral actions and programmes. Since Mr. President’s ‘subsidy is gone forever’ speech at inauguration day; the peace of mind of Nigerians has gone and decent living gone increasing despair of unimaginable dimensions.
“The federal government has continued to treat Nigerians as slaves and a conquered people which it treats with impunity without any concern on the consequences.
“The federal government has continued in an unholy mission of robbing the poor to pay the rich in Nigeria as typified by its continued frustration of the activation of the agreed alternatives to Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, and new hike in prices of PMS to N617 per litre.
“The federal government has continued to promote the gang-up of the ruling elite against Nigerian people and workers.”
Meanwhile Nigerian NewsDirect gathered the government has commenced move to forestall the planned strike action.
A government official who did not want his name in print disclosed that the President Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government has enough strategies to handle the situation, stating that using court injunction may also not be out of the purview to avoid disruption of activities.
Meanwhile, a source from the NLC executive said the organised Labour would do everything possible this time not to be shifted off from fighting the recent policies which he said we’re more unusual to the country and its people.
Speaking to journalists yesterday after a meeting of the Palliatives Steering Committee, President of NLC, Comrade Joe Ajaero, said that the meeting has nothing to do with the proposed protest.
Ajaero said, “Well the outcome is very brief. We met based on N520 increase and the committee that was set based on that and we agreed to to work to realise the objectives that was set during that moment.”
He said, “The two centres have made their position known and is before Nigerians. The TUC, the NLC, our position is known. And it’s public knowledge.”
When asked if NLC will go ahead with the threat to go on strike on August 2 if the federal government failed to reverse alleged anti-labour policies, Ajaero said, “Well, protest? I wouldn’t know, we are going ahead with the protest because we have to be emphatic on what we put in our communique, we said we’re commencing protests from the 2nd.”
On his side, the TUC President, Festus Osifo, said that the organised labour disagreed with government in some areas, but declined to mention the areas of disagreement.
He explained that the meeting majorly was to listen to the presentations coming from the Secretariat of the steering committee, adding that the government team made presentation to them.
He said, “We made our robust inputs into it. Some of the things they presented we did not agree with them.
“We also made our imput known because when you come to such meetings it is for government or its representatives to do a presentation.”
Give me more time to address grievances — Presidency
President Bola Tinubu has however appealed to the organised labour to give him more time to look into their grievances rather than embark on industrial action.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, disclosed this after meeting President with the House leadership on the outcome of their engagement with the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD)
Speaking to State House correspondents after meeting with the President at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Abbas said the President said he was new in office and needs time to evaluate the issues that are being raised by workers over which he is yet to be briefed.
According to him, “What he said is that he’s just coming on board. We should ask them and beg them to please give him a little more time.
“The things that they mentioned, he is completely unaware of them; he is yet to be briefed about all those issues.
“But from what he heard from me, he also advised that we should channel those issues to the Chief of Staff to look at one after the other.
“I believe in the coming days, some concerted actions will be taken.”
He said the House leadership invited NARD following their intention to go on strike, saying that the lawmakers succeeded in persuading the union to shelve the plan.
“Sequel to the meeting we had with them, there were series of conditions that they gave, that we felt we need to share with the President,” he said.
The Speaker maintained that the purpose of the visit to the Presidential villa on Wednesday was to intimate the President of the progress made with the doctors association.
He also disclosed that the House leadership also used the visit for familiarity purposes as they had not met with the President since they emerged leaders.
Why we’re yet to roll out palliatives – FG
The Federal Government has explained that it is yet to roll out palliatives because it doesn’t want to make mistakes.
Speaking after the Steering Committee meeting on Palliatives, the leader of government team and Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Olu Verheijen, who was flanked by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Kachollom Daju, explained that the government was yet to roll out palliatives because it didn’t want to make mistakes.
She said the meeting with the organised labour was productive and would continue on Friday.
Asked about the agenda of the meeting, she said: “It involves labour and some parts of government, it’s a steering committee. It’s a wide group of people, a wide group of stakeholders representing the interests of Nigerians. And we have agreed to continue to make progress.
“It was a very productive meeting. The focus was really around how we fast track a lot of the interventions that will bring relief, particularly around CNG, mass transportation, cleaner energy, transportation, and reduce the impact of the cost of transportatio.
“So we have made good progress. And we are going to continue to do so, so that we can start rolling out these opportunities, relief and measures as quickly as possible.”
Asked if the labour would not embark on strike again as they have threatened to do, she said, “The labour unions will speak to that. But we are making progress, we are trying to address the issues that will prevent a strike.
“So that’s why I feel like we made very good progress today and will continue to do so.”
Further asked why it was taking so long to roll out some of your palliatives the government promised Nigerians, she said, “We have to get it right.
“It’s important that we do this well, and we keep our promises. So it’s important that whatever is announced actually gets done because we don’t want to make big announcements that will continue to lose people’s trust.
“It’s important that we build trust, and that most of the announcements and the plans that we roll out are credible and impactful.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is working assiduously to address all of these issues. And as quickly as he can.
“He’s very empathetic, he is concerned about it, as you’ve seen all of us working round the clock here to make sure that we are able to announce these measures as quickly as possible. It’s a whole package of issues that we’re rolling out as quickly as possible.”
The House leadership meeting with the President took place at the time the organised labour met with the presidential team on palliatives.
Abbas to meet resident doctors, others on Thursday
Meanwhile as the labour outcry deepens, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen has slated Thursday to meet with relevant stakeholders over the crisis between the Federal Government and the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD).
The Majority Leader of the House, Prof Julius Ihonvbere made the disclosure at Wednesday plenary presided over by the Deputy Speaker, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu.
The meeting will be coming after Abbas met with President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday, as promised.
At the plenary, the leadership of the House expressed displeasure with NARD’s decision to continue with its planned strike despite the intervention by the lower chamber.
Recall that the NLC had earlier frowned at the President Tinubu-led Federal Government, stating it was robbing the poor to pay the rich.
The fuming trailed the subsequent adjustment in pump price of petrol announced by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), a development that saw petrol selling for as high as N700 in some States in the Country.
The NLC had cried that the actions of the present government since its inauguration on the 29th day of May, 2023 has continued “inflicting mindless and heartless pains” on the populace one after the other without the decency of embracing the tenets of democracy which, it said, requires wide and deep stakeholder consultation on weighty matters of state.
According to the NLC, though the organised labour decided to act by modesty to suspend the nationwide strike which was earlier scheduled at the onset of the announcement of subsidy removal, the Federal Government has insisted on threading the path of dictatorship and seeking to impoverish the people further by “taking steps that can only be described as robbing the people of Nigeria to pay and feed the Rich.”
Tinubu, had barely two weeks ago, wrote a letter to the National Assembly seeking approval to accomodate a sum of N500billion by adjusting the 2022 supplementary budget to offer pallatives of N8,000 monthly for a period of six months to 12 million households each, which according to him was to cushion the effect of removal of fuel subsidy. Alongside, he had demanded the approval of an $800million loan from the World Bank for funding.
Reacting to the development which amidst rising hike in petrol pump last week saw the announcement of new pump price at N617/per litre by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), NLC President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, in a statement, had said the Federal Government WAs already using dictatorship style to impoverish Nigerians.
The NLC had condemned Tinubu’s request to secure $800million from the World Bank as funding for the palliative which it described as “a phantom palliative measure to cushion the effect of its poorly thought-out hike in the prices of Premium Motor Spirit.”
Describing the N8,000 sum as an insults on “our collective intelligence” and “a mockery of our patience,” the NLC condemned in strong terms, the proposal to pay National Assembly members the sum of N70bn and the Judiciary N36bn, describing as “most insensitive, reckless and brazen diversion of our collective patrimony into the pockets of public officers whose sworn responsibility it is to protect our nation’s treasury.”
It concluded that it may be forced to constructively review engagement with the government on what it described as “this vexatious issue” and “take matters into our own hands.”
Recall that initial plans by the NLC to embark on a nationwide strike following subsidy removal at the onset as announced by President Tinubu in his inaugural speech on May 29, was resisted by the Federal Government, approaching the court to secure an injunction to thwart the plans.
While the court ruled in favour of the Federal Government, the Government promised to go into agreement with the organised labour setting up a committe which the latter has said was never constituted nor held any meeting involving engagement with labour stakeholders.
