The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has insisted that its planned nationwide protest over worsening insecurity and hunger will go ahead as scheduled.
President of the NLC, Joe Ajaero, confirmed that there had been no directive to suspend the demonstration earlier announced for December 17, describing the protest as “sacrosanct”.
Mr Ajaero spoke after a courtesy visit to the Chairman of the Northern States Governors’ Forum and Governor of Gombe State, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya.
“I am not sure you have gotten any contrary view that it is not holding. So, unless you have gotten a contrary view, then we can take it from there. The protest is to help this country — to call attention to the effects of insecurity,” he said.
The labour leader explained that the protest was aimed at drawing urgent attention to the worsening state of insecurity and its devastating impact on workers, investors and the economy.
He lamented the increasing cases of kidnappings and killings across the country, noting that workers and their families were among the worst affected.
“Many workers are being kidnapped on a daily basis. People are killed. The case in Kebbi — the person killed was a teacher. The children that are kidnapped are children of workers. So, we need to ask the government to help fish out the perpetrators of this,” Mr Ajaero said.
According to him, the security challenges are discouraging both local and foreign investments and compounding the economic hardship faced by Nigerians.
He said the demonstration was meant to awaken the government to its responsibility of tackling banditry, kidnappings and other security challenges across the country.
Mr Ajaero also demanded decisive action to end the spate of kidnappings, lamenting that victims are often forced to borrow money to pay ransoms.
Meanwhile, Governor Yahaya said the Gombe State civil service required a strong and productive workforce to drive sustainable development.
Speaking at the official flag-off of the construction of the NLC state secretariat, the governor described workers as indispensable partners in governance, stressing that their welfare had remained a priority of his administration since assuming office in 2019.
He said the project was designed to provide organised labour with a befitting secretariat after decades of operating from a temporary office.
The governor added that his administration had sustained a culture of dialogue, mutual understanding and shared responsibility with organised labour, a strategy he said had strengthened industrial harmony and productivity in the state.
Mr Yahaya also recalled that Gombe was among the first states to implement the National Minimum Wage despite limited resources, describing the decision as a deliberate investment in human capital development.
