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The National President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, says that the congress’ planned nationwide protest on 17 December remains sacrosanct.
He made the statement shortly after a courtesy visit on the Chairman of the nineteen Northern States Governors’ Forum and Governor of Gombe State, Inuwa Yahaya, in Gombe the capital city of the state.
“I am not sure you have gotten any contrary view that it is not holding. So, unless you have gotten a contrary view then we can take it from there. The protest is to help this country – to call to attention the effect of insecurity,” he stated.
Ajaero decried the negative effects of insecurity on Nigeria’s economy particularly how it is turning away investors saying that insecurity, “is affecting even investors coming into this country”.
According to the NLC President, the protest is aimed at awakening government to its responsibilities of tackling crushing economic hardships, insecurity, banditry and other abnormalities in the country.
Citing examples of how insecurity is affecting workers and everyone else, Ajaero said “Many workers are being kidnapped on daily basis. People are killed. The case in Kebbi, the person killed was a teacher. The children that are kidnapped are children of workers. So, we need to ask government to help them to fish out the perpetrators of this.”
The protest, according to the NLC President is to strengthen the hand of government to be able to solve the myriad of issues bedeviling the country, “And by our protest they should know that their hands are being strengthened for them to do the needful.”
While calling on all Nigerians to be part and parcel of ending the negative developments in Nigeria, Ajaero called for total overhauling of our value system, describing banditry and kidnap for ransom as acts that are alien to our value system as a people.
He demanded that the government must end the spate of kidnappings and banditry in the country.
“Unless the government is interested in giving us what is called insecurity allowance because most of the workers kidnapped borrow money, look for someone to pay for their ransom,” the NLC President said.
Ajaero said that adding his voice to the growing call on the Nigerian government to return the country to safety and winning ways is the NLC’s only potent weapon,
“So it’s getting to a dimension that we have to equally add our own. We don’t have gun, we don’t have matchet to go into the bush to look for the people involved but this is our only contribution, the only way that we are going to tell Nigerians and international community that this should stop.
“This is not the culture of Nigerians – culture of banditry and insecurity is not the culture of Nigerians. So, we have to condemn it moving forward and then with that you strengthen the hands of those in authority to make sure that this does not continue.”
The Congress had on December 8 announced plans to hold a nationwide protest over the insecurity in the country.
It condemned the kidnapping and killing of school staffer during the Kebbi school attack and criticised the withdrawal of security personnel from the affected school prior to the attack.
NLC described the surge in attacks on schools as alarming and called on the Federal Government to secure all schools, particularly those in remote and vulnerable areas.
The congress expressed worry over the crisis in the tertiary education sector, the ongoing strike by the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU), and the revival of the Labour–Civil Society Coalition (LASCO).
It also weighed in on the state of the Labour Party and urged members to realign the party with working-class principles, ideology and integrity.
