August nationwide protest: Labour union urges Tinubu to engage in talks with organisers, says Nigerians are suffering

Nigeria‘s labour union has urged President Bola Tinubu to intervene and engage in talks with the organisers of the planned nationwide protest, intending to avert the demonstration and find a resolution to the grievances.

Many Nigerians have been mobilising for a nationwide rally billed to be held across 36 states of the federation on the 1st of August in protest against the rising cost of living crisis.

Commenting on the planned rally, the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, appealed to the President to identify the leaders of the protest and dialogue with them.

The labour leader expressed alarm and disappointment that, due to the present economic situation, numerous families in the country are struggling to afford even a single meal per day, highlighting the dire circumstances faced by many citizens.

He said, “As the date for the widely reported national protest looms, the Nigeria Labour Congress urges President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to invite the leadership of the protest movement for discussions on their grievances.

“The truth is that millions of Nigerians are angry about the state of the national economy. A situation where most Nigerian families are forced to eat one miserable meal a day and eating from the dustbin is now seen as luxury beckons for serious intervention by government.

“Corroborating a recent country living standards index assessment by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) which established that about 133 million Nigerians live below extreme poverty lines, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) posits that in the first three quarters of 2024, about 32 million Nigerians have been exposed to acute hunger.

“When this statistics is added to the millions that are being recruited into the armies of the unemployed and under-employed Nigerians, one can easily situate the hardship, pain, frustrations and despair that many Nigerians are going through right now.”

Nigeria has been facing a dire economic downturn in recent months, leading to calls for protests demanding government intervention.

The country’s inflation rate rose to a new 28-year high of 34.19% in annual terms in June, according to official data.

June’s data marked the 19th straight month that inflation had skyrocketed in Africa’s most populous nation, up from 33.95% in May.

President Bola Tinubu’s policies, including subsidy removals and double naira devaluation, have driven up costs and fuelled price pressures.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics’ latest data, food and non-alcoholic beverages remained the primary drivers of inflation in June, contributing the most to the overall inflation rate.