Author: National Record

The civil society group stated that its demands for apology and full investigation are in appreciation of the values of partnership that drives AU’s Agenda 2063 as well as the values of equality, mutual accountability, reciprocity and solidarity which have ensured the good relationship between the African Union, the majority of its member states and China.

“With this in mind and having carefully considered the briefings and Report from the Presidential Task Force and the various options offered, it has become necessary to extend the current restriction of movement in Lagos and Ogun States as well as the FCT for another 14 days effective from 11:59 pm on Monday, 13th of April, 2020. I am therefore once again asking you all to work with Government in this fight.”

“As a digital rights organization, we cherish online privacy and while we struggle to ensure that government does not abuse the privacy of individuals, we should equally urge citizens to respect the privacy of others.”

“There will be economic and political backlash when the pandemic is over as it will provide ready excuse for further attacks on the rights of workers and the citizens through wage cuts, layoffs, redundancies, increased casualisation, etc. It is also not ruled out that there will be fresh increases in VAT, electricity tariff, etc. as the ruling class will attempt to shift the burden of bailing the economy out of the doldrums it is headed to the masses while bailing out the big businesses. We must prepare for this and stand to defend jobs and right to decent living. The masses cannot be expected to pay for this crisis when the political elite earn outrageous pay.”

The appointment of the special envoys, the AU chair said, would expedite the process of securing economic support to enable countries on the continent to respond swiftly to this grave public health emergency. President Ramaphosa said the envoys brought with them a wealth of experience and enjoyed longstanding relationships in the international financial community.

“We need the power of the NLC/TUC to push the Government to adopt this Action Program. That will ensure that the poor majority of Nigerians do not suffer so much from a disease that was brought here by the corrupt elite flying in from London, Paris, New York and other places,” the CSOs stated in the revised summary

“We must leave no one behind in the response, and build universal social protection including floors, and universal health coverage. Income support must be expanded to meet the rising unemployment, with no barriers to access for informal and non-standard workers. This is the moment for necessary ambition, with no time for piecemeal solutions or programmes that exclude the needy with narrow targeting and shift risks onto workers alone.”

“While we focus on the victory ahead, we must also reflect on the lessons that the sobriety enforced by the Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting global lockdown offer. These lessons are also the lessons of Easter. Easter reminds us of God’s love for the whole world. Covid-19 reminds us of a shared humanity. We are in this together. Covid-19 reminds us that what touches the nose would soon touch the eyes. Rich countries, poor climes, developed economies, struggling societies, workers, owners of capital, politicians, peasants, aristocrats, artisans, are all affected by this global pandemic that fears neither class nor status.”

“But in all this, we need to sit down, we need to rethink. I think organised labour must sit up and decide how to engage the employers in order to mitigate the impact of this crisis. They must use the existing collective agreement to ensure that workers are paid”

There is no modern society in which everybody employs herself or himself. Ordinary people have internalised this and they are saying it! The victims have imbibed the ideology of their exploiters, the ideology of their class enemies – the explanations and ideas, the ideology that oppresses them, and imprisoned them at the level where they are; that’s the point that I am making.