Following the appeal by President Bola Tinubu for youths in the country to shelve their planned nationwide protest starting from August 1, stakeholders have joined in calling on the organisers to give the president more time to fix the country.
While the presidency has fingered some figures, especially leaders of some opposition political parties as being behind the planned protests, others noted that the rally is being propelled by labour unions who had complained of unbearable hardship due to some government policies.
However, leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, which is the umbrella body of all labour unions in the country, has absolved itself of planning the protest and as such, cannot withdraw from what it did not spearhead.
The union was responding to reports that it had pulled out of the planned nationwide protest.
NLC in a statement on Wednesday signed by its national president, Comrade Joe Ajaero, advised the federal and sub-national governments to listen to the cries of hungry Nigerians and address the economic crisis.
The statement entitled, ‘The Nigeria Labour Congress cannot withdraw from a protest that it did not organise,’ and sighted by Daily Intel Newspaper on its verified X handle @NLCHeadquarters readd in part: “A news report of the withdrawal of Nigeria Labour Congress from the widely discussed national protest has been brought to our attention. NLC debunks such story as patently false.
“The truth is that Nigeria Labour Congress cannot withdraw from a protest it did not organise. It is only the organisers of the speculated national protest that can decide to pull out or continue with the protest.
“Nigeria Labour Congress has internal trade union mechanisms, especially leadership decision-making processes that its industrial actions such as protests pass through before such activities are undertaken.
“Yet, the fact that it is not the body organising the protest does not mean that Organised Labour is oblivious of the dire living conditions that Nigerians have been subjected to by the harsh economic policies of government.
“Congress stands in solidarity with the Nigerian people in this very trying and excruciating times.
“Pursuant to proactive engagement with the issues canvassed by the protest organisers, we have called on President Bola Tinubu to invite the leaders of the protest movement to dialogue on their demands.
“We have advised that it would be counter-productive for government to meet the widespread anger in the land with brute force.
“Once again, we implore the federal and sub-national governments to listen to the cries of the people and do the needful. After all, it is said that the voice of the people is the voice of God.”
