Members of the organised Labour in Ogun State, on Wednesday, complied with the directive of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to protest the anti-poor policies of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
The protest, which began from the NLC secretariat in the Leme area, prevented the free flow of vehicular movement to the Governor’s Office, Oke Mosan, where the protest was terminated.
They described the removal of fuel subsidy, hike in school fees, and VAT as anti-people policies.
The workers also demanded the release of eight months of withheld salaries of university lecturers and an end to “inhuman actions” and policies of the government.
Some of the inscriptions on their placards read: “Let the poor breath, don’t suffocate them,” “Stop importation of petrol, revive the refineries now!!!”, “Stop the looting, tax the rich, and subsidise the poor” and “Give workers what is due.”
The NLC chairman in the state, Hammed Ademola, said the protest was in line with the directive of the national body of the union.
“We have to be on the street, we must not wait until we die, our destiny is always in our hands, and now is the right time for us to tell the government of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu that we Nigerians are suffering.
“The fuel subsidy removal has caused a lot of hardship, untold hardship for the masses of this nation. We are suffering, we have crude oil, yet we are still buying abroad, enough is enough”, Ademola said.
While the State Chairman of Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Akeem Lasisi, demanded the reversal of fuel subsidy, saying, “Subsidy is the constitutional responsibility of any government, the subsidy is a global practice, so it is unfortunate in this country that our own subsidy is marred with corruption.
“Instead of government to remove the corruption in subsidy, they removed subsidy itself.”
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