The leaderships of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) have said the nationwide mass protest was suspended, after extracting some ccommitments from President Bola Tinubu.
The two bodies stated this in a press release jointly signed by Comrades Joe Ajaero and Festus Osifo, presidents of NLC and TUC, respectively.
The release, titled “You Have Spoken Loudly Nigerians: It Resonated And Resounded”, was dated 2 August, 2023.
The NLC and TUC presidents further stated that the mass protest was suspended after a fruitful meeting with the president, held at his behest.
They stated that an immense mileage was gotten with regards to the issues that necessitated the mass protest namely, the oil subsidy removal and the subsequent hardships on Nigerians.
According to the NLC and TUC leaders, President Tinubu made four pledges and commitments, including the following:
“An immediate restructuring of the framework for engagement in line with the input of the Labour leaders;
“A certainty that the Port Harcourt Refinery will commence production by December this year;
“A pledged to ensure that an agreement is reached on the wage award for Nigerian workers immediately; and
“A promise to unveil a workable roadmap to the CNG Alternative next week.”
They added: “On the strength of the President’s pledge and commitment, we have decided for a return to a new and reinvigorated dialogue process to allow for full implementation.
“Once again, we thank Nigerians while we wait for the government to fulfill its own part of the understanding, as agreed with the President.”
The NLC and TUC also appreciated the timely intervention of the leadership of the National Assembly and for pledging to resolving the issues concerning the welfare of Nigerians.
Ajaero and Osifo has however reacted to the court summons served on the leadership of the two unions for alleged contempt of court.
“It is also important that we inform Nigerians that we have just received a court summons purporting to charge us with contempt of court.
“We urge all Nigerians to be vigilant because it appears that the days of long knives are here with us again.
“The leadership remains resolute in its commitment to the protection of the interests and welfare of the Nigerian people and nothing whatsoever can take our eyes away from this focus nor shake this belief.
“Having demonstrated our collective resolve through the strong signal we sent today across Nigeria, we urge vigilance on the part of all workers and masses to protect our nation and our decisions?
“To further show our collective resolve, all Nigerian workers will resume at the courts wherever they may be across the nation on the days of the court sittings to hear the contempt proceedings against the leaders of trade unions.
“The airports, the seaports, the hospitals, schools; all public and private sector workers will all appear in court across the nation in response to the vontempt charges.
“Once again, we look forward to the continuing support of all Nigerians and workers around the country as we continue in this struggle for freedom from the clutches of oppression and impoverishment.
“We must remain unwavering and together refusing to allow them divide us so that collectively, we will build a nation where, no one will be considered too small to be left behind,” Ajaero and Osifo stated in the release.
Meanwhile, President Bola Tinubu has assured that the Port Harcourt Refinery will resume production by December 2023.
This is after the ongoing rehabilitation work on the 150,000 barrels per day refinery by an Italian firm, Maire Tecnimont SpA, must have been completed.
Tinubu made the commitment during a meeting with the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) at the State House, Abuja, Wednesday evening.
The commitment was contained on a statement by Dele Alake, Special Adviser (Special Duties, Communications and Strategy) to the President.
The meeting led to the suspension of the nationwide mass protest started by the leadership of the two Congresses yesterday.
Alake stated that the president and the Organised Labour resolved to stop further protests after a fruitful and frank discussion.
He stated that the resolution was based on the labour leadership’s confidence in Tinubu’s ability to encourage open and honest consideration of all the issues put forward by Labour.
Alake further emphasised that President Tinubu has assured the Labour leaders that he would continue to work for the best interest of Nigeria.
He therefore pleaded with the Labour leaders to join hands with him to birth a better and economically-buoyant country.
