The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has emphasized that President Bola Tinubu must uphold his promise made during the recent minimum wage negotiations, ensuring that fuel prices will not be increased.
Benson Upah, the NLC’s Head of Information, acknowledged that while the ₦70,000 minimum wage was not ideal, the organized labour had hoped to avoid fuel prices rising to ₦2,000 per litre by striking a deal with the government.
“We knew ₦70,000 was not ideal for the average Nigerian, but we had to make a deal, expecting President Tinubu to keep his word,” Upah said during an interview on Wednesday with Arise TV.
Upah urged Nigerians to be patient and allow the labour unions time to make decisions regarding the fuel price increase and the next steps to take. He clarified that no decision had been made yet on whether to strike but said all possibilities were being considered.
“Well, we have not said we are going on strike. I would want you to read our statement carefully. We said the appropriate organs of the Congress will need to take appropriate decisions, and those decisions will be made public. So I would want you to be patient to see whether a strike will be one of them,” he said.
Upah added that if a strike becomes an option, it would be aimed at waking the government up to address the people’s grievances.
“Our strike is the least harmful, as effective as a strike can be. Our strikes are essentially to wake the government up and point in the right direction. When other Nigerians strike, the difference is always clear. You remember EndSARS? You remember the last strike? I mean, the end hunger protests. You remember that?”
He also warned of the growing frustration among Nigerians, urging the government to take heed of the potential consequences of continued hardship.
“What we are sensitizing government to is the possible consequences of people’s outrage, because Nigerians have had it up to their necks. And government must realize this fact. It’s one thing to talk about extreme right-wing market policies, and another thing to implement them, and diligently too.”
Upah criticized President Tinubu’s extreme right-wing market policies, stressing that while such policies are typically accompanied by social security measures in other countries, Nigeria lacks adequate social protection for its citizens.
“For the entities that implement extreme right-market policies, the way Mr. President is doing, they carry something on the left hand. They mitigate the harsh effects of those right-wing policies. You have social protection policies dealing with job losses, dealing with health insurance, dealing with energy, dealing with particularly other aspects of life. And this manages resentment, dissolution, and uprising,” he explained.
He also decried the government’s failure to fulfill its social welfare responsibilities, saying Nigerians are left to fend for themselves on basic necessities.
“Here we have a country where you do not have anything called social protection. Everybody is on their own. Even right-wing issues like providing light and security, you are on your own. And government is carrying on as if it does not owe us an obligation. It is deceiving itself,” Upah added.
