Labour Leader Reveals Next Line Of Action If Warning Protest Fails

The Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Enugu State, Comrade Fabian Nwigbo, has said if the two-day protest declared by Labour aimed at making the federal government fulfil its pact with Nigerian workers fails, the organised Labour might opt for indefinite strike.

He said NLC was mindful of the sufferings many Nigerians were passing through as a result of fuel subsidy removal, adding that embarking on indefinite strike instantly would add more pains to the suffering masses.

In his words, “Nigerians are already suffering. If you go off business for twenty-four hours, the pains will increase. This two-day protest is a warning signal. It is a process. If we demonstrate for two days and nothing happens, we go back and look at what the law provides and then take the next available option.

“You don’t just wake up and embark on an indefinite strike. Most of the decisions taken by Labour consider the plight of an average Nigerian. This one is the first step, and we believe it is going to yield the desired fruit. It has started, though the result is not enough to say we cannot continue with the protest.”

He said what were on the front-burner “is not salary review because salaries of workers are due for increment this year.”

Quoting him, “Nobody is talking about salary increment because it is a law and due for review. There are sixteen points of our agitation. The federal government promised that on the last day of December 2023, three refineries would be up and running in Nigeria. Today, none is functioning. The condensed liquefied gas vehicles, none is on the road. We can’t keep quiet. It will amount to a conspiracy of the highest order if we continue to watch things go wrong, and nobody is talking.”

He commended Governor Mbah for fulfilling his promise to state workers.

According to him, “His Excellency promised N25, 000 to the workers. He paid in December and January. We have no cause to raise any eyebrows. It is not as if we have gotten all, but at least if you agree, you should be able to fulfil the agreement. The challenge is when we come together, agree on something, and one party reneges.”

On Labour’s next line of action, he said, “We have many options. One of which is strike if the warning protest fails to yield desired results. We may also down tools. When this kind of thing happened in Germany sometime last year, the next day, banks, schools, every sector shut. Nobody waited for Labour.

“But in this country, if Labour wants to protest, some people will say it is their business. The point is that every worker comes from a family. When you give a man a job, you have given jobs to at least five persons.”

Meanwhile, NLC, Enugu State chapter, was on Tuesday restricted by the State Police Command from protesting outside the secretariat. Many members of the NLC in Enugu State converged at the secretariat around 9 am ahead of the protest.

However, they could only protest inside the secretariat. They carried placards with various inscriptions, including “stop hunger, lower food prices,” “double allocation to politicians, renewed hunger for the people,” and “Save Naira, stop the collapse of industries.”

The state NLC Chairman, in a reaction, said some security agencies asked them to shelve the planned protest or alternatively remain inside the NLC secretariat on security grounds.

Nwigbo said the police authorities told him they could only guarantee their safety if the protest was held within the secretariat. He, however, said the union would gather on Wednesday to carry out the protest.