PROTESTERS under the aegis of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) have stormed the National Assembly Complex in Abuja to express their discontent with economic hardship and the rising cost of living in Nigeria.
The protesters chanted and displayed different placards as they bemoaned the economic situation in the country.
Earlier today, The ICIR reported that the NLC members in Lagos, Kaduna and Kano states hit the streets to protest against the worsening economic crises in the country.
Protesters in other states and Abuja also bemoaned daily increases in the prices of goods and the cost of living. They urged the government to take actions to alleviate the pains the crisis inflict on citizens.
While filing this report, the protesters in Abuja were yet to be addressed the Senate leadership.
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Hardship: NLC protest kicks off in Lagos, Kaduna, Kano
The nationwide protest was at the heels of the labour meeting with the Federal Government on Monday, February 26, which ended in a deadlock.
The NLC president, Joe Ajaero, after the meeting with the government representatives, said, “The rally goes on and it is part of their constitutional responsibility to ensure that the rally is peaceful.”
NLC protest is about hunger, not minimum wage – Ajaero
Meanwhile, the President of the NLC Joe Ajaero, said the nationwide protest being held across the country was not about the pending minimum wage but ravaging hunger across the nation.
Ajaero stated this on Tuesday at the commencement of the protest in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
“There’s absolute hunger. You say we should not say we are hungry, so we should keep quiet and die. We say no; that’s why we’re coming out.
“The UN said that the poorest man should be fed on $2.00 per day. That’s the poorest, and if you have a family of six people at $2.00 per day, multiplied by six is $12.00. In a month, you have $360.00, which translates to about 700,000 naira. Is that the minimum wage you are talking about? I’m not talking about transportation or medical,” Ajaero said.
Ajaero said the workers had told the government what to do as a short-term solution to the hardship.
He also said there had been hunger in the country before the present administration took over but it was not as bad as currently witnessed across the nation.
Ajaero further accused the Federal Government of playing politics with issues affecting the vast majority of citizens and diverting money for cash transfers into private accounts.
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: umustapha@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M