
By Onomiguren Agbamu
The Delta state chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, said Federal Government does not care about the welfare and wellbeing of Nigerians.
NLC State Chairman, Chief Goodluck Ofobruku, who stated this while addressing journalists on Monday in Asaba noted that the Union in all states have been directed by the National headquarters to protest against the increment of tariff in the telecommunication sector and planned increment of electricity by the Federal government.
He said the protest scheduled to hold on Tuesday 4, 2025, will be a peaceful protest to make the voices of poor Nigerians to be heard.
According to him; “as a state council, we are bound to honour the directives of the national headquarters. They have directed that we protest against the increase in tariff in the communication sector, so we are going to protest. “
“It is a peaceful protest, and we are going to make our voices heard by the government because we do not understand where Nigeria is heading.”
“Any little thing tariff, taking money from the poor to feather the nest of the rich. The type of leadership we have in this country we believe is not really interested in the welfare and wellbeing of the people”
He maintained that “the people are so poor and weak that they cannot protest against the injustice that is being meted on them by the federal government, so we are going to the occasion to say no to unjust increment in electricity tariff and communication tariff and also increase in the prices of fuel and gasoline”.
“Do not forget that the government has announced again that they are going to increase tariff on electricity that we are still going to pay more on electricity”
“If we say we are just going to be docile, the government will keep bringing out policies that will impoverish the people, do not forget they are being taking care off by taxpayers monies”
“The Federal government does not feel what we are feeling. The only way they can feel what we are feeling is if we take to the street to protest”
“On salary increase, when they increased the price of fuel and also increased electricity tariffs, we kicked against it, and we said, they should revert to were the prices of fuel and electricity were before, but they refused.
Okay, increase our salaries because our salaries can no longer take us home, and we settled for N70,000 as new minimum wage, but even as that, before we settled for implementation, the government started increasing the prices of fuel”
“So, you find out that instead of the N620 per litre they initially increased it to, fuel is now about a thousand and some fraction, even now, the N70,000 can no longer hold sway, we at the labour movement have decided to write to the government this year that the N70,000 can no longer take care of the least paid worker in the country”
“They have to look at the salaries, that is the position of NLC, not that NLC are troublemakers, just that the government is just coming out with policies that are ant-people anti-workers, and they are not relenting, as workers, we will not relent our objection to what they are doing as well”.
The peaceful protest was shuduled to hold today Tuesday 4, 2025 but was later suspended after meeting with National leaders of NLC in Abuja