As the nationwide protests called by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) spread to states, the President of the NLC, Joe Ajaero, has presented labour’s letter of demands to the National Assembly.
Workers in seven states and the FCT are on the streets protesting the hardship the country was experiencing.
The states include Lagos, Ondo, Ogun, Imo Kwara, Kaduna, and Plateau states.
Ajaero listed the demands to include full implementation of the welfare provisions, employment generation, immediate subsidy to farmers, immediate subsidy to farmers to boost agricultural production, and fixing the four refineries among others.
Ajaero handed over the letter to the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Labour, Employment, and Productivity, Senator Diket Plang on Tuesday.
Ajaero in his remarks at the National Assembly, said Nigerians embarked on the peaceful protests because there was hunger in the land, adding that “Nigeria is becoming like Zimbabwe.”
FCT
The NLC and other related unions have commenced their protest in Abuja over the high cost of living, inflation, insecurity, and hardship in the country.
The protest started from the Labour House Headquarters in Abuja at exactly 9:36 am.
Unions taking part in the protest include the Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria, the FCT Council, the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives, and the Nigeria Union of Teachers and Construction Workers’ Union, among others.
Ogun
Workers in Ogun State joined their counterparts across the country to protest the prevailing hardship occasioned by fuel subsidy removal and attendant skyrocketing prices of goods, particularly food among others.
The leadership of the NLC said the two-day rally slated for today and tomorrow is to compel both the federal and state governments to tackle the problem of insecurity, hunger and the continued rise in poverty across the country.
The Chairman of Ogun State NLC, Comrade Hammed Ademola-Benco, who addressed workers before going to the streets, said the rally was hinged on getting good deals for Nigerians and never and the intention to confront the government
Ademola-Benco said, “This protest rally is about getting good deals for the people of the country. The truth is that people are suffering, many Nigerians are hungry, and the prices of food have reached the rooftop.
Imo
The Police Commissioner Zin Imo State Aboki Danjuma, has deployed officers and men of the command
to the workers’ protest from being taken over by hoodlums.
The NLC and affiliate union members had announced planned protest over economic hardships nationwide.
The command’s spokesperson, Henry Okoye, said on Tuesday in Owerri, the state capital, that the essence of the deployment of the cops was to ensure that the peaceful protest is not hijacked by criminals.
He said the police were ready to forestall any breakdown of the law and order and deal ruthlessly with the bad elements.
Kwara
Civil servants in Kwara State have stormed the streets of Ilorin in the protest called by the NLC.
The workers in the state under the ages of the NLC are lamenting over the high cost of living in the state, saying it had become difficult for heads of families to maintain the home front. They urged the government to intervene immediately as people were dying of starvation and hunger.
Kaduna
Civil servants in Kaduna State on Tuesday complied with the directive from the NLC to workers nationwide to come out and protest the current hardship facing the citizens.
The workers were seen along the Independent Way in Kaduna respectily to voice their concerns about the prevailing economic challenges in the country.
The workers in their masses were seen carrying placards and banners with different inscriptions while chanting protest songs on Tuesday.
The protesters said threats by the govt can deter them from registering their displeasure over the poor economic situation in the country
Ondo
Hundreds of civil servants took to the streets of Akure, the Ondo State capital on Tuesday to protest current economic hardship in the country.
The protest was based on the directives of the national body of the Nigeria Labour Congress.
Plateau
Hundreds of protesters led by the Nigerian Labour Congress on Tuesday stormed the streets of Jos, the Plateau State capital.
The protesters who gathered at the Secretariat Flyover bridge lamented the economic hardship and insecurity being faced by Nigerians in the state and other parts of the country.
Describing the situation as unbearable, the protesters called on the Federal Government to act quickly and save Nigerians from further suffering.
The peaceful protest is ongoing along the major roads in the capital city while the protesters are chanting various solidarity songs.
