Nigerians Now Do ‘Zero-One-Zero’ Feeding Because Of Hardship — NLC

The Lagos State chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has decried the current economic hardship in the country.

The state Chairman, Funmi Sessi, said that most Nigerians now eat once a day.

The NLC embarked on a two-day nationwide mass protest on Tuesday to demand the implementation of the October 2, 2023 agreement with the Federal Government.

The nationwide protest followed the expiration of a 14-day ultimatum given by the labour union to the Federal Government to implement the October agreement, which elapsed on February 22.

Addressing members at the Lagos State House of Assembly complex in Ikeja, Sessi noted that Nigerians are hungry and angry.

“Now, we can no longer provide the basic needs for our families. On daily basis, some of our workers and some Nigerians do one-zero-zero or they do zero-one-zero. If you eat once a day, you go to bed. And no family (parents) now ask their children whether ‘you’ve belle full’, she said.

“We want the government, we want the president to hear that Nigerians are hungry. The centre can no longer hold. We’re hungry and we’re angry.”

Sessi also complained about the spate of insecurity in the country, adding that the government needs to arrest the continuous depreciation of Nigerian currency, naira.

She pointed out that although successive governments have done damage to the country, President Bola Tinubu knew the challenges facing the country when he was campaigning to be president.

Sessi stressed that Tinubu had promised to wipe away the tears of Nigerians, but things are currently not going well in the country.

“We still believe in this country. We don’t want this country to go down. But we want our leaders to wake up . We know that successive governments have done enough damage, but Mr. President knows that the office is a continuous one. And he knew that the challenges ahead of him were undaunting; he took it. He said he knows, but he’ll wipe away our tears,” the Chairman said.

Sessi called on the government to quickly address the issue of hunger in the country by deploying food items to local government areas, wards, religious houses, among others.

“Let them begin to deploy food. People are hungry. People are dying of hunger. This is just the truth,” she added.

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, who also joined the protest, commended the labour union for not bowing to pressure from the government not to exercise their rights.

“I’ll like to congratulate the leadership and the entire members of the Nigeria Labour Congress for insisting on enforcing their rights to assemble peacefully and express themselves.

“What you’ve done today is a major victory in the annals of our history,” Falana said.

The leadership of the NLC later presented a protest letter to the state House of Assembly.

Receiving the letter, the leader of the House, Noheem Adams, said that the assembly recently asked Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to provide palliatives to residents.

According to him, the governor has since responded.

The protest, which commenced from Ikeja Under bridge, through to Awolowo Way, terminated at the state assembly complex.