Following scheduled August 3, 2023 mass protests by the organised labour led by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the Federal Government has fixed a meeting with the representatives of labour for Monday, August 1, 2023.

The Federal Government’s latest move is part of efforts aimed at preventing the nationwide mass protests called by the Nigeria Labour Congress.

But, the NLC has remained unrelenting in its resolve to go ahead with the protests thus, advised citizens to stock their homes with food items, medicines and other essentials ahead of the commencement of its seven day protests against escalating cost of living that was occasioned by the removal of fuel subsidies without adequate measures put in place to mitigate the adverse effect.

The organised labour said its advice was predicated against the backdrop of the that fact that protests are likely to cripple the country as movement would be severely curtailed as its members in the commercial transportation sector would have to withdraw their services just as markets, schools and healthcare facilities would be forced to
shut down.

The NLC also advised citizens to regulate and minimize their movements to avoid being stranded.

The NLC had last week issued a seven day notice for a national mass protests, accusing the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led Federal Government of merely deceiving Nigerians as it was not prepared to address the crises and hardships it created as a result of its policies.

The NLC in a statement by its President, comrade Joe Ajaero, pointedly accused the Federal Government of deliberately failing to meet up with the demands it presented to it following the removal of the subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) which triggered an astronomical rise in the price of commodities in the country.

The position of the NLC jolted the government which quickly called for an emergency meeting with the organized labour comprising the NLC and Trade Union Congress last week Friday but again the government team failed to show up, a development that made the representatives of the organized labour to storm out of the venue of the meeting.

Speaking on the matter, the Assistant National Secretary of the NLC, Chris Onyeka said that the labour team would again be meeting with the government on Monday, saying that the outcome of the meeting would determine the next line of action.

In the words of Onyeka; “It is going to be a nationwide mass protests and we are sure that it will affect every corner of the country. We are seriously mobilizing across the nation. We are currently at work at the secretariat alongside the CSOs.

“We may not shut down the power supply system, but as the protest goes on, we may shut down other places depending on the response of the government.

“One of the things we do is hold dialogues. We don’t run away from the table anytime they call us. We are having another meeting with them on Monday,” he said.

Also speaking on the development, the Deputy National President of Trade Union Congress (TUC), comrade Tommy Etim, noted that the Federal Government has shown lack of seriousness so far with regard to the negotiations, adding that the organised labour team was always ready to meet and dialogue but it was the government that was not serious over the matter.

In the words of Etim; “When we got to the Villa on Friday, we waited for almost two hours at the gate for clearance with no intervention. It was after two hours that we were allowed in. By the time we got to the point of the meeting, we realised that the team representing the government failed to show up. So, it is wrong to actually say labour stormed out of the meeting.

“How can labour storm out of a meeting that did not hold? We felt disappointed because we did not expect such shabby treatment from the government”.