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President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, on Tuesday, February 27, lamented that Nigerians are dying of hunger due to the economic hardship in the country.
He urged the federal government to urgently address the situation.
Ajaero spoke at the National Assembly Complex when he led thousands of protesters including civil society organizations in protest against the economic hardship.
He said: “We thank everyone for making this happen. Today has come to pass. They said we should not be but we are here. We are here because there is hunger in the land. History will not forgive us if we do not protest at the level of hunger in the land. It is to signal to the authorities that there is a problem in the land.”
He decried the falling value of the Naira, growing insecurity, and rising unemployment among other issues.
He said immediate measures must be taken to address the suffering, adding that the NLC would decide its next line of action.
The NLC president presented a letter containing their grievances to the representative of the leadership of the National Assembly.
Chairman Senate Committee on Labour, Employment and Productivity, Senator Diket Plang, who accepted the letter on behalf of the National Assembly said they were aware of the hardship and assured that efforts would be made to urgently address the situation.
He promised the letter would be dispatched accordingly.
He said: “We are supposed to stand in for Nigerians where it pinches them. I want to assure you that the National Assembly is very sensitive to what is happening, very sensitive.
“The leadership of the National Assembly, yesterday, the Senate President and the Speaker met. I was with them. We parted around 12 midnight and all the issue is about bringing solutions to the suffering and yearnings of Nigerians.
“We are at a very critical period that Nigeria is taking a decision that would be of economic advantage to all of us. My plea and our plea is for the union to reason with us, and understand with us. There is no way we will allow this thing to continue. But steps must be taken.
“Already the 15th agenda of the Memorandum of Understanding given between government and labour is being tackled. The last issue that is in place is the issue of minimum wage and negotiations are going on.
“There is no way that we will not end up with a resolution and a decision that will benefit Nigerians. I assure you that all of us, the press, the general public, everybody is feeling it, but Nigeria will succeed. The president will succeed. We will succeed. We are very sensitive to it. So may God Almighty, help us to maximize our potential, and maximize our natural resources, may we intervene in such a way that all Nigerians will be able to exploit the God-given wealth that we have. We are all on the same page.”
