The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) have been urged by the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) to put the country’s interests first and postpone their planned strike.
The call came from Mr. Pedro Obi, national president of NANS, during a press conference held on Saturday in Abeokuta.
According to MISMOB, the NLC and TUC gave the government a 14-day notice to go on strike on February 8. This was in response to the government’s refusal to carry out the agreements that were struck on October 2, when the gasoline subsidy was removed.
Obi made it clear that the group felt the same way about the suffering that the Nigerian people, particularly the young people and students, are going through right now.
If the planned strike were to go forward, the association’s president said, the country’s economic crisis would be exacerbated even more.
Additionally, he asked for the decision to be reconsidered and said that the unions may demand things and go on strike if they wanted to make their points.
He begged them to think about how it would affect pupils’ academic performance, the economy, and, most crucially, their level of security.
“We respectfully request that the labor unions, while acknowledging the significance of resolving issues pertaining to labor and supporting workers’ rights, look into other avenues of communication and discussion with the appropriate authorities.
To make matters worse for the country’s security and economy, he warned that strikes, “though a powerful tool,” might spark social instability.
So, he begged the federal government to speed up the implementation of the new minimum wage, claiming it would alleviate people’s hardships significantly.