The Coalition of Northern Groups, CNG, has dismissed plans by the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, to embark on strike over the removal of oil subsidy by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The Groups’ Spokesman, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, in a statement, claimed that pockets of threats and strikes embarked on by the NLC in the past did not yield any considerable results.
He asked the NLC to explain its whereabouts at the time the budget was prepared, presented, defended by the government of former president Muhammadu Buhari and passed by the 9th National Assembly without the provision for subsidy.
The statement partly read; “CNG also observes that on every occasion, the NLC would deceive the public into believing they are protecting their interests, only to betray the course, and negotiate with the government at the expense of the suffering masses.
“The first instance was the NLC protests over harsh economic policies of the Buhari government in February 2017 which came to an abrupt end without achieving any results and no convincing explanation to the public.
“Then came the September 2018 strike which was also terminated after the NLC met with government officials and compromised the effort with no effect.
“The worst scenario was the October 2020 organised labour plan to shut down the entire economy in protest over the increase in the pump price of petrol and a hike in electricity tariff.
“However, the strike was called off at the last minute after a meeting between government officials and labour leaders in Abuja.
“The CNG, in particular, took exception to the move by labour at that time, describing it as a huge trade-off and compromise in its strongly worded letter of October 6, 2021, to the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Ayuba Wabba, expressing disappointment in the labour leadership, for deliberately suspending an action meant to check the arbitrary hike in fuel prices by the Buhari administration.
Suleiman noted that a meeting of all the 150 affiliate groups and other concerned associations and would come up with a unified position on the current situation on Monday, June 5, 2023, at the Arewa House, Kaduna.
