NLC can’t withdraw from protest it didn’t plan – Ajaero

The Nigeria Labour Congress NLC on Wednesday, denied claims that it has withdrawn from the #EndBadGovernance protest.

Joe Ajaero, President of the NLC, in a statement on Wednesday, debunked the report and stated that the NLC could not have withdrawn from the protest it did not organise.

Ajaero who described the report as ” patently false”, had, in a previous statement, called on  President Bola Tinubu to dialogue with the protest organizers.

“The truth is that the Nigeria Labour Congress cannot withdraw from a protest that it did not organise. It is only the organisers of the speculated national protest can decide to pull out or continue with the protest.

Ajaero explained that the Nigeria Labour Congress has internal trade union mechanisms, especially leadership decision-making processes that its industrial actions such as protests pass through before such activities are undertaken.

“Yet, the fact that the Nigeria Labour Congress is not the body organising the protest does not mean that Organised Labour is oblivious to the dire living conditions Nigerians have been subjected to by the harsh economic policies of the government.

The NLC President in the statement he signed, reiterated that it is in “solidarity with the Nigerian people in this very trying and excruciating times.

“Under proactive engagement with the issues canvassed by the protest organisers, we have called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to invite the leaders of the protest movement to dialogue on their demands.

“We have advised that it would be counter-productive for the government to meet the widespread anger in the land with brute force.

The labour union again appealed to the federal government as well as the governments at the Sub-national levels to listen to the cries of Nigerians over the prevailing economic hardships.

“Once again, we implore the Federal Government and the sub-national governments to listen to the cries of the Nigerian people and do the needful. After all, it is said that the voice of the people is the voice of God.”