The Nigerian Labor Congress, NLC, Akwa Ibom State, has joined its counterparts in other states of the federation to protest the economic hardship in the country.
Chairperson of NLC in Akwa Ibom, Sunny James who led the protest on Tuesday from Idongesit Nkanga Secretariat, Uyo, to the State House of Assembly before onward movement to Government House lamented that people have been stretched to their limit due to excessive hunger and hardship.
Addressing the Speaker of the House, Mr Udeme Otong, the NLC Chairperson urged him to encourage his members to make laws that would address the problems of the people and enable them to eat on a daily basis.
He added that the situation of the country does not need laws that do not have meaning and positive impact noting that Nigerians are suffering due to unfavorable policies of the present federal government.
He also noted that the nationwide protest would be domesticated in Akwa Ibom State such that the governor, Pastor Umo Eno should ensure that workers’ peculiar demands are addressed.
According to him, “We are here to present our position to members of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly that they need to make laws in the direction of our problem, laws that will be beneficial to us. We don’t need laws that don’t make meaning to us.
“If the leaders are not willing to change the situation, we will force them to change the situation, how can we be buying a bag of rice at N95,000 and a cup of garri N500?
“In Akwa Ibom State, this protest has to be domesticated, we need our gratuity, we need our promotion arrears, we need our 2023 promotion to be released immediately, we need the CNG busses to work, we need our refineries to work, we need increase in our wages, we need the prices of our staple food to come down, we need to see rice from Ini, we need to see garri and tomatoes been sold at our secretariat here.
“We are presenting these proposals to the governor and we give him a timeline, if he does not listen to us, we shall gather again for a protest.”
James also commended the commissioner of Police and the leader of DSS in the state for their solidarity and support especially for giving the protesters premium security and ensuring that everything goes successfully.
Responding, the Speaker, Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, Udeme Otong described the protest as orderly and peaceful and promised to look into the prayers of the NLC as contained in their letter.
The Speaker assured the protesters of the governor’s readiness to put up all measures to assuage their suffering noting that the three laws that would be passed are geared towards bringing down the cost of living vis a vis the prices of commodities.
His words, “Be assured that no matter what happens you have somebody like me who is once a comrade you can rely on. I’ll ensure that all your demands as contained in this letter receive legislative action.
“Thank God we have a proactive governor who is on top of the situation. The three laws we are going to pass today will bring down the cost of living. The governor has assured me that he will meet with the leadership of NLC and TUC to address some of these issues.”
