The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has said the Bola Tinubu-led government was not prepared for the consequences of its fundamentalist market policies of massive currency devaluation and ‘subsidy’ removal.
According to the Labour Congress, the policies have imposed on Nigerians social violence, upheaval, dislocation, displacement or punishment they have never before experienced.
The NLC was reacting to a statement by Bayo Onanuga, a presidential media aide, who said the recent strike by the NLC and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) was intended to “blackmail the government.”
Benson Upah, Head of Information and Public Affairs at the NLC, said in a statement:
“We consider it an insult to our collective intellect and sensibility when Bayo Onanuga avers that “the Federal Government does not condone any form of violence and assault on any citizen…[and] that the Inspector General has ordered an investigation into what happened to Mr Ajaero…”.
“We concerned Nigerians are not interested in a charade. We demand an honest and thorough investigation by competent and independent professionals (with free and unfettered access to information, people and materials) from within and outside the country. Comrade Joe Ajaero holds offices on the international circuit.
“We want Bayo Onanuga and those who sent him and the police much earlier that we shall not be cowed by anybody or force, no matter the resources at that person’s disposal. No government can be bigger than the people over which it presides!”
