The Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led federal government has begged the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) to shelve its planned strike scheduled to start next Wednesday.
OsunDailyNG reports that the FG appealed during a meeting on Wednesday between government representatives and organized labour.
Recall that on May 29, 2023, the President gave Nigerians an inaugural shocking gift by increasing the price of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, from N185 to N500, which was later jacked up to N617 by the NNPCL.
Following the hardship faced by Nigerians due to Tinubu’s government decisions, labour issued a strike notice which gave the federal government a 7-day ultimatum to address what it described as anti-people policies or face industrial action.
Speaking after the Steering Committee meeting on Palliatives, the leader of the government team and Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Olu Verheijen, who was flanked by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Kachollom Daju, disclosed that the present administration is doing everything possible to address issues raised by the labour movement, on the removal of fuel subsidy.
She pleaded with labour to give the federal government more time to look into its grievances rather than embark on industrial action.
According to the presidential aide, the government was yet to roll out palliatives because it didn’t want to make mistakes, adding that the meeting with organized labour was productive and would continue tomorrow.
Asked about the agenda of the meeting, she said: “It involves labour and some parts of government, it’s a steering committee. it’s a wide group of people, a wide group of stakeholders representing the interests of Nigerians. And we’ve agreed to continue to make progress.
“It was a very productive meeting, the focus was really around how we fast-track a lot of the interventions that will bring relief, particularly around CNG, mass transportation, cleaner energy, transportation, and reduce the impact of the cost of transportation, the increased cost of transportation. So we’ve made good progress. And we’re going to continue to do so and so that we can start rolling out these opportunities and these relief measures as quickly as possible.”
On if Labour will not embark on strike as threatened, she said: “The labour unions will speak to that. But we are making progress; we’re trying to address the issues that will prevent a strike. So that is essentially why I feel we made very good progress today and will continue to do so.”
Reminded that Nigerians are suffering and are not expected to wait for too long for palliatives to come, she said: “President Bola Tinubu is working assiduously to address all of these issues. And as quickly as he can, he’s very empathetic; he is concerned about it, as you’ve seen all of us working round the clock here to make sure we are able to announce these measures as quickly as possible. It’s a whole package of issues that we’re rolling out as quickly as possible.”
