Despite President Bola Tinubu’s Monday announcement of subsidy removal palliative plans, organised labour has stated that it will still hold its scheduled statewide demonstration on Wednesday.
In addition to announcing in a nationwide broadcast a N500 billion palliative for farmers, small businesses, and manufacturers, Tinubu also announced intentions to raise wages and buy 3,000 public transit buses.
However, the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Joe Ajaero, said that the President’s last-minute attempts to call off the demonstration were unsuccessful and that the march would proceed as planned because Monday’s negotiations between organised labour and the Federal Government ended in failure. On Tuesday (today), the discussion is anticipated to get back up.
Ajaero assuaged concerns that the peaceful demonstration could be hijacked by thugs by claiming that this had never happened during any of its workers’ demonstrations. He added that it was the responsibility of security authorities to protect participants in such exercises.
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“We just adjourned to go and listen to Mr. President’s speech and to continue with our conversation tomorrow (Tuesday). Our peaceful rally will go on as scheduled…this rally has been fixed,” Ajaero informed journalists following a meeting of the Presidential Steering Committee on Palliatives between the government and labour at the Aso Rock Villa in Abuja.
Ajaero responded to Tinubu’s economic reforms, focusing on the exchange rate and others, by saying: “By the time you have a single market (exchange rate), you don’t have anything that gives you a competitive edge, and your energy is imported. How are you going to control it?
“How are you going to control somebody that exchanged dollar at about N900? Are you going to tell him to sell below the price?
“How are you going to tell even the Discos not to increase their tariff with the high cost of production today? Even corn in the villages that was sold at N18,000 in February; now it’s about 56,000. How are you going to control it?”
