The Nationwide Govt Council of the Nigeria Labour Congress has issued a robust condemnation of the Federal Authorities’s dealing with of the continued #EndBadGovernance protests, calling for a direct reversal of the insurance policies which have plunged the nation into financial hardship.
The NEC convened an emergency assembly on Wednesday to evaluate the influence of those insurance policies on Nigerian staff and the broader inhabitants.
In a communiqué signed by NLC President, Joe Ajaero, and Basic Secretary Emmanuel Ugboaja, the NEC expressed deep concern over the federal government’s response to the mass protests, which started on August 1, 2024.
The protests, triggered by widespread discontent over the federal government’s financial insurance policies, have been met with violence, ensuing within the deaths and accidents of a number of civilians by the hands of the police.
“The NEC is deeply troubled by the federal government’s high-handed and mismanaged response to the peaceable #EndBadGovernance protests. As a substitute of addressing the professional and elementary grievances of the individuals, the federal government has resorted to violence,” the communiqué said.
The NLC criticised the federal government’s determination to implement insurance policies based mostly on recommendation from the World Financial institution and the Worldwide Financial Fund (IMF), which it described as “anti-poor.” In keeping with the assertion, the labour union had beforehand warned that these insurance policies would result in extreme hardship, however its considerations had been dismissed by the federal government.
The NEC additionally condemned the federal government’s trivialisation of treasonable felony expenses, which it argued had been getting used indiscriminately towards peaceable protesters.
“The continual trivialisation of treasonable felony by Authorities operatives abuses and makes a mockery of it as a excessive crime towards the state,” the communiqué stated.
In response to those points, the NLC issued a number of resolutions, together with a requirement for the reversal of the federal government’s financial insurance policies and the implementation of rapid aid measures to alleviate the struggling of staff and the final populace.
The NLC additionally known as for a Nationwide Day of Mourning to honour those that misplaced their lives in the course of the protests and demanded an impartial investigation into the killings and maiming of protesters.
Moreover, the NEC urged the federal authorities to have interaction in significant dialogue with representatives of the protesters, civil society organisations, and different stakeholders to resolve the continued disaster. The NLC warned that failure to take action might compel the union to direct its members to remain residence for his or her security.
“The NEC-in-session urges the federal authorities to have interaction in significant dialogue with representatives of the protesters, civil society organisations, and different stakeholders to resolve all the problems at stake to finish the nationwide carnage. That is to keep away from NLC being compelled to direct its members to remain residence for the security of their lives,” the communiqué stated.
The NEC additionally expressed robust disapproval of the federal government’s interference within the affairs of the NLC, notably the actions of the Minister of Labour and the Registrar of Commerce Unions.
The communiqué known as for the rapid withdrawal of a “politically motivated” letter despatched to the NLC by the Registrar of Commerce Unions.