THE NIGERIA Labour Congress (NLC) on Wednesday gave further insight into the sudden suspension of Day 2 of its planned day-two nationwide protest over economic hardship, revealing that it was because its leadership was “threatened with all manners of consequences that would be meted out to us if we went ahead with the protest.”
While the NLC had promised to address a press conferences in its Abuja headquarters and state councils on Wednesday in place of Day 2 of the nationwide protests, it used the occasion through a prepared text, signed and read by its president, Comrade Joe Ajaero to provide further details on the annulled Day 2 protest.
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It could be recalled that the National Executive Council (NEC) of NLC on Tuesday abruptly called off its equally NEC-ordered 2-Day nationwide protest against hunger and wider economic hardship orchestrated by the neo-liberal policies of the Tinubu government.
While suspending the protest via a communiqué issued at the end of its NEC meeting in Abuja, Comrade Ajaero and Ismail Bello, the Acting General Secretary of NLC, who co-signed the communiqué, had declared that the NEC took the decision after it reviewed and realised that the “key objectives of the two-day protest” had been attained on the first day.
But Comrade Ajaero, in his press briefing on Wednesday, February 28, 2024, said it had become important that the public is made aware of the grievous threats against the leadership of the congress.
“It is important that members of the Public are made aware of the grievous threats against the leadership of the NLC aimed at intimidating and harassing us into abandoning our choice of democratic expressions through the nationwide protests. We were threatened with all manners of consequences that would be meted out to us if we went ahead with the protest. We were not however deterred as lifting the heavy yoke of suffering upon Nigerian workers and masses left us with no other choice than to press on.
“During yesterday’s protest rally in Abuja, we had hard evidence of the importation of agent provocateurs who were mobilized to the protest routes and grounds to cause violence and unleash mayhem against peacefully assembled and protesting Nigerians. God is however always a step ahead of the enemies of workers and Nigerian people. That was also one of the reasons we had to restructure the second day of the nationwide protest.
“As we address this Press briefing, all the major routes to our Headquarters here in Abuja have become militarized. This level of intimidation is designed to suffocate and muzzle the voices of the citizens so that we can surrender the Civic space to retrogressive forces of the society.”
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Comrade Ajaero also noted that a secondary reason for the suspension of the protest was to celebrate the 46th anniversary of the founding of NLC “in a solemn assembly”.
“Today, is the 46th anniversary of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC). The recognition of that also conditioned our decision to rearrange our activities for Day 2 to allow us observe our birthday in a solemn assembly in our various Secretariats across the nation,” Ajaero said, reiterating that “if the government fails to comply within the specified timeframe, the NEC will convene again to decide on further lines of action. The NLC remains steadfast in its commitment to defending and promoting the interests of Nigerian workers and the downtrodden masses.
Comrade Ajaero concluded that the NLC will neither “succumb to intimidation” nor “yield to harassment. We will keep the interests of Nigerian workers and people at the heart of our actions all of the time.”
Below is the full text of the press briefing:
In a unanimous decision, the NEC ordered a 2-Day Nationwide Protest to demonstrate solidarity with the masses and workers across Nigeria, expressing outrage over the adverse effects of these policies. The NEC after closely monitoring the execution of the first day of the protest, commended Nigerians, affiliates, state councils, workers, and civil society allies for their resolute participation.
Acknowledging the overwhelming success of the first day of the protest in achieving its key objectives, the NEC decided to suspend street actions for the second day and ordered that the protest continues nationwide through simultaneous Press Conferences across all states of the federation, including the National Headquarters.
Furthermore, the NEC extended the ultimatum to the government by an additional 7 days, now expiring on March 13, 2024. During this period, the government is expected to implement all agreements reached on October 2, 2023, and address other demands presented during the nationwide protest.
During yesterday’s protest rally in Abuja, we had hard evidence of the importation of agent provocateurs who were mobilized to the protest routes and grounds to cause violence and unleash mayhem against peacefully assembled and protesting Nigerians. God is however always a step ahead of the enemies of workers and Nigerian people. That was also one of the reasons we had to restructure the second day of the nationwide protest.
As we address this Press briefing, all the major routes to our Headquarters here in Abuja have become militarized. This level of intimidation is designed to suffocate and muzzle the voices of the citizens so that we can surrender the Civic space to retrogressive forces of the society.
In conclusion, we want to reiterate that if the government fails to comply within the specified timeframe, the NEC will convene again to decide on further lines of action. The NLC remains steadfast in its commitment to defending and promoting the interests of Nigerian workers and the downtrodden masses. We will not succumb to intimidation. We will not yield to harassment. We will keep the interests of Nigerian workers and people at the heart of our actions all of the time.
Comrade Joe Ajaero
President
