Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, on Tuesday, lambasted the Nigeria Labour Congress for staging a “needless” nationwide protest.
State capitals and cities across the country witnessed peaceful protests on Tuesday as members of organised labour trooped to the streets to express their dissatisfaction for the economic hardship and spiralling inflation confronting the citizenry.
On Monday night, last-minute efforts by the Federal Government to stall the protest had ended in deadlock.
NLC President, Joe Ajaero, led workers and other Nigerians to protest in Abuja, Lagos, Ibadan, Jos and other major cities of the country.
Other prominent Nigerians participated in the protests, including ritual Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde; human rights lawyer, Femi Falana; presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, Omoyele Sowore, and others.
But in his reaction to the protests, Ngelale said the Federal Government had already started addressing the hardship.
He spoke in an interview on TVC, adding that the fact that the Trade Union Congress (TUC) did not join the protest showed that it was needless.
According to him, “Any labour union that is speaking to the concerns of Nigerian families, the pains that are being felt by our people, is absolutely free to do so. It is right that Nigerians speak up in difficult situations.
“And the government has been doing everything possible to alleviate those concerns. But we also want to separate the legitimate concerns being expressed by some of the labour unions from people trying to leverage some of the situations in the country to achieve a political agenda.
“We have seen the Trade Union Congress (TUC) pull out of the purported nationwide protest. We have seen the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) pull out of the protest. There is no unanimity behind what NLC is trying to do. I believe all of the legitimate concerns being raised by the unions are being tackled by the administration of President Bola Tinubu.”
The two-day warning protest to the Federal Government continues tomorrow.