In accordance with an instruction from the country’s main labor organization, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in Ogun State has initiated a two-day strike.
In light of the severe economic crisis that is gripping Nigeria at the moment, the NLC stated that the demonstration had taken on greater significance.
The naira’s persistent depreciation versus the dollar and the elimination of fuel subsidies have caused this suffering.
Several states’ citizens have already taken to the streets in the past several weeks to demonstrate against economic hardship before the NLC announced its countrywide protest. These states included Kano, Niger, Oyo, Edo, Lagos, Kano, Sokoto, Borno, and Osun.
The NLC’s leadership just two weeks ago stated that today and tomorrow there will be a two-day rally to force the federal and state governments to address the national problems of hunger, insecurity, and the persistent increase in poverty.
During an interview with journalists in Abeokuta, Comrade Hammed Ademola-Benco, who is also the chairman of the Ogun State NLC, said that the success of the rally depends on the negotiation of favorable terms for the Nigerian people.
“The people of the country are the focus of this protest,” Ademola-Benco stated. As a matter of fact, many Nigerians are going hungry, and food prices have skyrocketed. People are suffering.
Many states still haven’t paid the wage awards the federal government promised; it’s time for them to quit acting like everything is fine. All we’re doing is urging the government to step up and meet our demands, which have to do with improving people’s quality of life.
Because all forty of the union’s Ogun State branches sent representatives to the peaceful event, the chairman went on to say that it was a huge success.
Speaking at the demonstration site, Comrade Yinka Folarin, national vice president of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR), expressed disappointment that the government of Nigeria, which had promised the people renewed hope, had instead crushed that optimism.
For example, Comrade Folarin pointed out that “this government has not shown enough commitment to serve Nigerians,” which contributes to food scarcity and expensive costs. The people of Nigeria did not go to the polls in February of last year to express their approval of the current state of affairs; something has to give.
Enforcing law and order are security agencies like the police, the Department of State Services (DSS), and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).