Barring any last-minute surprises, the Organised Labour, comprising the Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, and its affiliates, as well as the Trade Unions Congress, TUC, and its constituent arms, will embark on an “indefinite”, total, nationwide strike from tomorrow, Tuesday, October 3, 2023.

This is because, as the NLC President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, lamented recently: “You can see there is no agreement or implementation of any (demand of Labour). There is no CNG(Compressed Natural Gas) anywhere. The refineries are not working. No agreement on wage award”.

The NLC had embarked on a two-day warning strike on September 5 and 6, 2023 in its reaction to the harsh economic measures, particularly the immediate implementation of the petrol subsidy removal which was scheduled to start at the end of June 2023.

President Bola Tinubu had announced its “immediate” implementation while being inaugurated on May 29, 2023.

Fuel marketers reacted to it instantly and shut their stations while hiking prices by up to 300 per cent from the official pump price of N180 per litre. This skyrocketing spread to other sectors of the economy and exacerbated the weakness of the Naira, which has crossed the N1,000 to the Dollar barrier and still climbing.

The Federal Government promised a package of palliative measures as recommended by the National Economic Council, NEC.

These included the supply of thousands of CNG-powered buses, review of the National Minimum Wage, release of grains from the food reserve, allocation of funds for the purchase of food and allocation of N5 billion to each state.

Labour is miffed that little is being practically seen of the Federal Government’s promises. It is also angry that the countless meetings it has been invited to by government have failed to shore up confidence. They have not produced any reassurance that the nation’s refineries will be operational soon.

Even the Dangote Refineries that Nigerians had hoped would ameliorate the energy situation keeps postponing the start of production. Modular refineries are bitterly complaining of alleged refusal by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd, NNPC Ltd, to allocate them crude oil.

The promised palliative measures have made very little impact. The agricultural and manufacturing sectors which also need bailouts to keep their workers on the job are massively threatened with shutdowns.

The Federal Government appears more interested in intrigue, politics, the use of the courts and state power to overawe and possibly break Labour.

We still believe that dialogue and implementation of agreed terms are central to the resolution of the dispute. Any resort to impunity and the tactics perfected by the military regimes will create an enervating impasse in the economy and worsen the sufferings of the masses.

This should be avoided at all costs.

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