• Says N8,000 palliative insult to citizens, revive refineries
• Peaceful protests in Jigawa, Niger

Organised Labour in Kogi State has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to reverse all policies that are against the interest of Nigerian workers.

Kogi State Chairman, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Gabriel Amari, made the appeal during a peaceful protest in Lokoja, yesterday, over the removal of petrol subsidy by the present administration.

Amari noted that the protest was necessitated by the excruciating hardship Nigerians face, adding that if urgent measures were not emplaced, the situation might deteriorate to national chaos.

He lamented that ordinary Nigerians could no longer feed well, stressing that the renewed hope promised by the present administration “has been dashed.”

The government, he added, should allow the poor to breathe, as Nigerians were gradually losing hope in their elected representatives.

Meanwhile, in collaboration with the Trade Union Congress (TUC), NLC has said the N8,000 palliative announced by Tinubu for 12 million households is an insult to Nigerians.

NLC Chairman in Kaduna State, Suleiman Ayuba, and his TUC counterpart, Abdullahi Danfulani, during the joint protest organised by NLC and TUC in Kaduna, yesterday, said Nigerians “are not interested in any palliative, but measures that can curb the effect of the removal of petrol subsidy.”

According to Ayuba, the Tinubu-led government is not specific on when to alleviate the plight of citizens, adding that priority should be given to the revival of refineries across the country.

The union leaders, while rejecting the students’ loan proposed by the Federal Government, condemned the hike in public schools’ fees and called for the reversal.

The protest in Jigawa State recorded low turn-out of workers, even as Labour leaders called on government to withdraw its anti-people policies.
The rally, which was largely peaceful under police cover, began from the NLC secretariat in Dutse, through the state capital, terminating at Government House, Dutse.
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Chanting slogans such as ‘Allow us to Breathe’, ‘We are Suffering’, ‘Bring Back the Fuel Subsidy’, ‘Inflation is Killing Us, We Don’t have a Good Life’, the protesters were received at the Government House by the Deputy  Governor, Aminu Gumel, who promised to send their message to the Federal Government for action.

Addressing the press, Jigawa NLC Chairman, Sunusi Maigatari, said the reason for the peaceful protest was to show the government that its policies were too harsh on the citizens.

He urged government to quickly withdraw the policies, especially fuel subsidy removal, which made prices of commodities and transportation skyrocket beyond the reach of the common man.

Jigawa governor, represented by his deputy, Aminu Gumel, promised to send the union’s message to the Federal Government for necessary action.

Also, in Niger State, the protest, which took off from Labour House on IBB Road, Minna, and terminated at the House of Assembly complex, was peaceful.

NLC Chairman in the state, Idris Lafene, described the policies of Tinubu’s administration as anti-people, causing untold hardship to ordinary Nigerians. He called on the President to retract them.

He stated that the protest was taken to the House of Assembly to urge the legislators to impress it on the Federal Government to make life easy for Nigerians.

Speaker of the Assembly, Abdulmalik Daji, lauded NLC for the peaceful protest and assured them of the legislators’ support. He promised to join today’s protest to Government House.

The Deputy Governor, Yakubu Garba, who was the immediate past Chairman of NLC, fully participated in the protest.