Fakoyejo OlalekanThe Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) have disclosed that they will proceed with their planned nationwide strike.
Despite the pleas from the Federal Government and President Bola Tinubu’s reassurance that his administration is working to ensure the hardship is temporary.
NLC and the TUC on Monday said the strike will begin on Wednesday, as the unions are doubtful of President Tinubu’s ability to curtail the fallout from his policies.
The unions believe Tinubu is unable to curb the soaring inflation and his plan to intervene in the foreign exchange market will not tame the rising dollar rate, which was driven by the naira devaluation.
The workers will take to the street for a peaceful protest according to the president of the NLC, Joe Ajaero, who assured that the protest will not be hijacked.
This was revealed by Ajaero following a meeting held on Monday, which saw the chief of staff to the president, Femi Gbajabiamila and the group chief executive officer of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari, in attendance. The meeting was adjourned to Tuesday.
Meanwhile, note that President Tinubu revealed that N1 billion has been saved since his administration stopped subsidising Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).
Tinubu, in a nationwide broadcast on Monday, said FG has been reaping the gains of the decision to end subsidy on PMS, also known as fuel.
He said the N1 trillion saved would have been spent on fuel subsidy which smugglers and fraudsters would have benefited from.
“In a little over two months, we have saved over a trillion Naira that would have been squandered on the unproductive fuel subsidy which only benefitted smugglers and fraudsters,” Tinubu said.
The president told Nigerians to bear with the hardship caused by the removal of fuel subsidy, stating that it is temporary pain.
According to Tinubu, the long-term gain will be worth the current hardship Nigerians are going through since his administration began at the beginning of June.
“look beyond the present temporary pains and aim at the larger picture,” Tinubu said, further stating: “I plead with you to please have faith in our ability to deliver and in our concern for your well-being.
“All of our good and helpful plans are in the works. More importantly, I know that they will work,” he assured.
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