Nigeria labour union shelves nationwide protests, issues fresh ultimatum to FG

Organised labour unions led by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) have announced the immediate suspension of their two-day protests all over the country.

Protests rocked different parts of Nigeria on Tuesday as scores of workers, traders, rights activists, and students rallied against the rising cost of food, medicine, cooking gas, and other basic services.

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) declared a two-day nationwide protest starting on Feb. 27, demanding actions from the government to ease the economic downturn triggered by the removal of the petrol subsidy.

Following the protest on Tuesday, the Labour Union, in a communiqué at the end of its National Executive Council meeting, said the objectives of the protest were achieved on the first day of the demonstration while issues fresh ultimatum to the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led administration.

The union extends “the 7-days ultimatum by another 7 days which now expires on the 13th day of March, 2024 within which the Government is expected to implement all the earlier agreement of the 2nd day of October, 2023 and other demands presented in our letter during today’s nationwide protest.”

It added that further actions will be taken against the government if all the agreements reached with the union are not honoured as expected.

Nigeria is facing its worst economic problem in decades as annual inflation draws close to 30%. The cost of food has gone up by 35%.

The federal government says efforts are ongoing to strengthen the economy while calling for calm among citizens.