Can Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Lead A Powerful Protest Against Tinubu’s Government?
The last hope of challenging the current administration may be in the Nigeria Labour Congress and its sister union, the Trade Union Congress. Both labour unions have signalled their readiness for a protest against the federal government led by President Bola Tinubu.
The agonizing conditions of the country have led to some forms of protest in a number of areas in the country including in Niger, Delta and Kogi State. Nigerian economy nosedives, worsens as well as the standard of living of the people. Salaries are not even enough to put food on the table likewise businesses are falling, failing and collapsing.
President Bola Tinubu said that there is no other way out. Definitely, the federal, state and local government share more revenue every month. An average Nigerian nevertheless wallows in abject poverty. The suffer and cry for intervention.
The Nigeria Labour Congress tackled the current administration when it took off in May, 2023. The congress embarked on strikes and held some dialogues with the government. Nothing meaningful has come up from the NLC struggle so far. In fact, matter have rather become worse.
The agitations from the street show that Nigerians are ready for protests. But who will lead them? The last major protest in the country was without a leadership as well as well-stated or clear-cut objectives. The Endsars protest therefore failed to achieve something tangible.
Joe Ajaero-led NLC has partly proved itself to be a torn on the flesh of the government. He is not ready to take less from Bola Tinubu’s presidency, which is either adamant of its unpopular policies or is totally bereft of good ideas that can really lift millions of Nigerians out of poverty.
After its National Executive Council meeting, the NLC released a communique on Friday, 16 February, 2024. The labour union announced that it would embark on a two-day protest to “demonstrate outrage on the mounting hardship and insecurity around the nation”.
The congress gave reasons for its decision to demonstrate and they are not in any way different from what other Nigerians have been complaining about. Would the NLC live up to the expectations? Would it lead the protest?
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