• C’River, Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta workers protest, insist on reversal of policy, fixing of refineries
Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State, yesterday, pledged N500 million to the “poorest of the poor” in the state, as part of measures to reduce suffering of the citizenry as a result of the petrol subsidy removal.
Obaseki made the pledge when he received members of the state’s chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), led by the Chairman, Odion Olaye, during a peaceful protest against the impact of the subsidy removal policy, in Benin City.
He said: “We are going to do our own bit. I have decided that every month, going forward, N500 million would be given to the poorest of the poor in the state. We are not waiting for anybody.”
The governor also directed the labour unions to decline the palliative proposed by President Bola Tinubu’s administration, saying that it is a continuation of fraud, which the Federal Government has always undertaken against Nigerians.
However, the labour unions in Rivers State, yesterday, complied with the nationwide protests, marching through the streets of Port Harcourt demanding rehabilitation of the nation’s refineries.
The workers from the 23 councils of the state converged on the NLC Secretariat in Port Harcourt at about 7:30 a.m. from where they processed, chanting ‘Let the poor breath,’ while proceeding to the Government House.
The workers, numbering about 500, while lamenting the worsening living standard in the country, urged the Federal Government to reverse all anti-people policies and rebuild the local refineries.
It was observed that residents were elated about the protest, describing it as a welcome development.
They pointed out that there was inadequate sensitisation and mobilisation by the labour unions about the protest, which would have ramped up the turnout.
Speaking, the state NLC Chairman, Alex Agwanwor, said the importation of fuel was responsible for the increase in the pump price of petrol, stressing the urgent need to fix the refineries.
In Cross River State, members of organised labour defied the heavy rain to join in the nationwide protest.
The union stormed the streets of Calabar with different inscriptions, such as “The People United Can Never Be Defeated,” Let The Poor Breathe,” “We Reject The Planned Increase In Electricity Tariff,” Tinubu Don’t Kill Nigerians,” among others.
Speaking to journalists during the protest, the Chairman NLC in the state, Olayi Gregory, said Nigerians have been in abject poverty, because of unrealistic policies by the government.
He said: “If you are elected, even at the state level, your policies should be friendly; we do not want policies that will kill the people that elected you.
“We did not elect Tinubu to treat us this way.”
Similarly, Delta State Chapter of NLC joined other states to protect against what they described as “anti-people and anti-workers policies” of the Tinubu administration.
The Chairman, Goodluck Oforburuku, who led the workers, noted that the decision to remove subsidy is to kill workers and, indeed, Nigerians as the Federal Government failed to organise palliative measures before the removal.
It was not different in Bayelsa State Council of NLC, as workers protested in the state capital, Yenagoa, saying ‘enough is enough’ to what they described as anti-people policies of the Federal Government.
