By Chukwuma Umeorah
Thousands of Nigerian workers, under the banner of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), took to the streets of Lagos State on Tuesday to demand urgent action from government amid escalating economic challenges and soaring cost of living. Protesters were seen gathering at Ikeja Under Bridge as early as 6:30am.
Led by the Chairman of NLC Lagos Chapter, Funmi Sessi, President of the Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals (ANAP), Kabir Busau, former NLC Vice President, Abiodun Aremu, renowned Rights Activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana and other labour leaders and affiliate Unions at around 8:30am the demonstrators began their march towards the seat of power, the Lagos State House of Assembly to present their letter of demands to the Lawmakers.
By mid-morning, the protesters arrived the State House, where they voiced their frustrations. Central to the demands of the NLC was the issue of food security.
According to NLC Chairman, Lagos, Funmi Sessi, “Don’t push us to the wall, there is hunger in the land. Our salary can no longer provide the basic needs for our families. We cannot afford to feed. The government must do the needful on stomach infrastructure. They must immediately begin to deploy food items to all the constituencies, local government, state councils and everywhere possible to reduce the prices of food.”
In addition to the call to address hunger in the land, the NLC Chairman also demanded urgent action in other areas of the economy including stemming the free fall of the nation’s currency, insecurity, review of anti-people policies among others.
“Our Naira is somersaulting every day, this is suffocating businesses and worsening our plight. Enough is Enough; the government cannot continue to fold their hands; it is time for them to held accountable. Insecurity is on the rise and is ravaging every region and ethnicity, we cannot continue this way.
“The government must roll out the right policies to ease the untold hardship that the people face. Let them fulfil their promise of bringing CNG buses to ease transportation and reduce demand for fuel. They should also invest heavily in rail transportation and all other forms of public transport.”
They called upon President Bola Tinubu to take immediate action and fufil his promises made during the campaigns including the revitalization of the country’s refineries to address fuel shortages, and measures to curb multiple taxation. Additionally, they urged the subsidization of transportation fares nationwide, citing the need to alleviate the burdens borne by ordinary citizens.
On his part, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana called for the passing of Social Security Bill “Nigerian workers must insist for the Bill to be passed to address the issue of youth unemployment. If Lagos state can start, other states will follow suit. It is no longer enough to share palliatives; it must be on a parliament basis in the interest of our people.”
The Majority Leader, Lagos HOA, Noheem Adams addressing the demonstrators, sought to assuage their concerns, affirming that their voices had been heard and promising intensified interventions and palliative measures from the state government.
Adams who spoke on behalf of The Speaker of the House, Mudashiru Obasa said, “At Plenary last week, the honourable members discussed extensively on the issue of hunger being experienced in the state and Nigeria as a whole. We passed a resolution to the Governor, Babajide Sanwa-Olu to roll out permanent palliatives which was announced recently including the 25 percent reduction in all public transportation fares, reducing working days for public servants among others.”
Addressing the call for a Social Security Bill, he said, “We would report to the leadership of the house. We assure you; we would look into it, and something would be done about it.” Despite these assurances, the protesters remained resolute, signalling their intent to persist until their grievances were adequately addressed.
The exercise is part of the Congress’ Nationwide 2-day protest to express their grievances to President Tinubu and press on their demands for immediate review of what it described as anti-people policies and address the sufferings of the people.
The protest was peaceful with heavy police presence led by the Lagos Police Commissioner, Adegoke Fayoade, alongside other law enforcement agencies who were on ground to protect the people ensuring that the demonstration remained peaceful and orderly, amid fears of potential disruptions.
Fayoade noted “The citizens have the right to express their grievances through peaceful demonstration and we are here to ensure there is no breakdown of law and order.”