Organised labour in Nigeria has threatened to go on a nationwide strike from 14th August if the government does not withdraw the court case it filed against them. The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) reached this decision after holding a meeting with President Bola Tinubu, which led to the suspension of the nationwide protest. The NLC has accused the Federal Ministry of Justice of using the court system to silence the voices of workers and undermine democracy. The NLC demanded the immediate withdrawal of the court case before 11th August. If the government fails to comply, the NLC will embark on a nationwide strike once they are summoned to court.
“The Federal Ministry of Justice, through the NICN, has continued to allow itself to be used as a vehicle to truncate the dominance of the tenets of democracy and silence the voices of workers,” said NLC President Joe Ajaero and General Secretary Emmanuel Ugboaja in a communiqué.
The NLC also affirmed its decision to suspend further protests on fuel subsidy removal but will remain vigilant and hold the government accountable for its promises on palliative spending.
TUC President Festus Osifo expressed his willingness to give the government the benefit of the doubt and wait for positive outcomes within the next week. If no positive feedback is received, the TUC and NLC will hold meetings to discuss the next line of action.
“As unions, we don’t just sit down and define this line of actions because we have organs, so this information that the President has given us, we are going to call out our meetings and we will also do the reviews,” said Osifo.
An Ibadan-based labour lawyer and activist, Femi Aborisade, stated that the meeting with President Tinubu was not fruitful. “Nothing fruitful in meeting Mr. President. The key demand remains unattended to,” Aborisade said. However, Aborisade praised the labour movement for commencing the strike and expressed confidence that it can be resumed later if necessary.
