We Can’t Join Protest We Aren’t Part Off — TUC

The President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Festus Osifo on Monday said members of the Congress will not join the nationwide protest because the union was not “part of the plan”.

Osifo, at a press briefing in Abuja, said the congress would rather engage the government further to find solutions to the hardship being faced by Nigerians than go to the streets.

Recall that the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Joe Ajaero, announced a two-day nationwide protest over the current hardship faced by Nigerians and the government’s failure to uphold the October agreement.

Subsequently the NLC despite a series of warnings from the Department of State Services (DSS), Police and the Attorney General of the Federation to shelve the strike has restated that the labour movement would not back down.

However, Osifo explained that the TUC was originally not part of the plan, and as such, it would present a fresh 15-point way forward to the government rather than taking over the streets.

“There is no point saying we’re opting out of a process we were not originally part of initially.

“We are going to present the way forward we’ve highlighted to the government, not through protest,” Osifo said.

Speaking further Osifo said, “Nigerians must live to see tomorrow before we can understand how beautiful a government policy is.

“The national pride of striving to achieve food sufficiency locally should be temporarily relaxed.

“Governments at all levels should immediately purchase sufficient quantities of food items from different parts of the world and share them with vulnerable Nigerians.

“Importing food abroad at this point will assist to reduce the hyper-inflation of food in the country.

“FG should allow importation of food items for Nigerians consumption within the next two weeks,” he added.

Osifo also called for the passage and implementation of a new minimum wage law that reflects the current economic realities.

He said, “The Federal Government’s economic team should work towards a more realistic rate of the naira to dollar, which they pegged between N500 and N800 to the dollar.

“There should also be a clamp down on currency speculators, especially those online, who have made remittances from abroad drop.”