Modupe Gbadeyanka
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The two-day nationwide protest declared by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has been suspended a day after it started.
The union called off the action on Tuesday night, saying it was to give the federal government an additional time to meet its demands.
The NLC, which commenced the demonstration across the country today, said its action has already yielded results, as the government felt the impact of the protest.
In a communiqué at the end of its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting on Tuesday, the flagship workers’ group it would give the government two weeks to look into the issues raised.
It said after deliberations today, the NEC agreed to “suspend street action for the second day of the protest having achieved overwhelming success, thus attained the key objectives of the two-day protest on the first day,” a part of the disclosure said.
“However, nationwide action continues tomorrow with simultaneous press conferences across all the states of the federation by the state councils of the congress, including the national headquarters,” it added.
The NLC said its council also agreed, “To reaffirm and extend the seven-day ultimatum by another seven days, which now expires on March 13, 2024, within which the government is expected to implement all the earlier agreement of October 2, 2023, and other demands presented in our letter during today’s nationwide protest.”
The group further resolved to “meet and decide on further lines of action if, at the expiration of the 14 days, the government refuses to comply with the demands as contained in the ultimatum.”
The labour embarked on a demonstration to call on the government to ease the economic hardship in the country. This has been caused by rising inflation, high food prices and the cost of living as well as the foreign exchange (FX) crisis.
