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From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has declared that its scheduled protest will go on today, despite a late-night meeting with President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday.
President Tinubu met with leaders of the labour union at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, in a bid to halt the planned nationwide protest amid rising economic tension.
However, addressing journalists at the Labour House on Wednesday morning, NLC President, Joe Ajaero, said the congress would proceed with the protest as planned.
The closed-door meeting between the President and labour leaders drew wide public attention, with many Nigerians hoping it would lead to a suspension of the protest and possible strike action.
Speaking after the meeting, Ajaero described the engagement as a consultation, not a final negotiation, stressing that labour’s leadership must brief its internal organs before taking any decision.
“We came for consultation with the President, and we are finished, so we have to go back to our meeting and then continue tomorrow,” Ajaero said.
“By tomorrow, we will get the outcome.”
Asked whether the NLC was still determined to proceed with the protest, Ajaero avoided a direct answer, insisting that decisions of the congress are collective.
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“If I’m insisting or not insisting, I will communicate that to you,” he said.
“It is not an organisation that one person rules. We will go back to the drawing board, digest all that Mr President said to us, and move forward from there.”
Also at the meeting was Imo State Governor and Chairman of the APC Governors’ Forum, Hope Uzodinma, who said dialogue remained the best way to resolve issues between labour and government.
“Consultation is going on. We were dialoguing, and like His Excellency said, at the end of the day, you will know what you are supposed to know and what you want to know,” Uzodinma stated.
He added that all parties were acting in the overall interest of the country.
“We are here to serve the country, the labour, the government and the governed. We are all working in service to the nation,” he said.
The Minister of State for Labour, Nkiruka Onyejeocha, also said labour leaders were pleased to have engaged the President directly and were reassured by the discussions.
“They are citizens who are also members of the NLC. They wanted to see Mr President, and they’ve seen Mr President,” Onyejeocha said.
“They are happy they’ve had firsthand engagement and that at least the President has driven the economy out of the woods. It is very good news.”
The Nigeria Labour Congress is protesting to demand urgent and sustained government action against the worsening insecurity across the country. Labour says rising incidents of violence, kidnappings and attacks have continued to threaten the lives and livelihoods of workers and ordinary Nigerians, prompting the congress to mobilise its members nationwide to press the government to take decisive steps to protect lives and property.
