By Onomiguren Agbamu
Delta State Chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress,(NLC) has said the 2-days peaceful protest schedule to hold on Tuesday 27 and Wednesday 28 will be a fight to finish and there is no going back.
The first Vice Chairman of the State chapter, of Nigeria Labour Congress, comrade Ziko Okwudi disclosed this to journalists during an interview in Asaba on the position of the state NLC.
Comrade Ziko expressed dissatisfaction on the part of Federal Government over nor implementation of the agreement reached between them on the removal of fuel subsidy.
Okwudi noted that the removal of the fuel subsidy has caused hardship to Nigerians and that it has also affected the standard of living, just as life is now difficult for all.
Comrade Okwudi said the Nigeria Labour Congress at the National level had meet with the Federal Government over the issues that affect the welfare of Nigerians, especially workers, and want Government to ameliorate the suffering of Nigerians.
Ziko insisted that the Federal Government is playing tactic to the issues raised during the meeting, especially as it concerned Nigerians and mostly were the CNG buses to convey Nigerians and workers, revamping the existing refineries to become functional, the wage award for workers and building of modular refineries to compete and beat down prices of fuel.
According to him, ” Despite the agreement Federal Government reached with NLC, the Federal Government have not be able to meet-up with any of them”
“And the more the days go by, things continue to increase to the extent to where we are now. Dollar has finally crashed, cost of living has gone beyond human comprehension”
“ Workers and Nigerians are finding life very difficult, we can’t continue keeping quiet, things are going wrong. We need to combine forces to achieve a common goal”.
Comrade Okwudi frown at the attitude of Trade Union Congress,(TUC) that are always on different page when it comes to strike action.
He said, “If one side is on the other side, there is no way we can achieve success at the end of the day, but most times you find out that when NLC takes a decision, TUC have one reason to back out and the Federal Government comes in to start renegotiation in their regular ploy each time NLC is at the peak of embarking on any strike action”.
He, however, assured that if Federal Government pays a deaf ear to the plight of Nigerians and refuses to address the issues to ameliorate the suffering, there is no going back this time.
He advised Nigerians not lose hope, saying this fight is not for only NLC but a collective effort of all Nigerians.
The labour leader urged Civil Society Organizations,(CSOs) to join hand in for better Nigeria
