Fuel Subsidy: Nigerian Labour Movement Has Credibility Problem; They Are In Bed With The System – Sowore

FILE
June 6, 2023
News

Sowore said this while speaking in an exclusive interview on MIC ON following the NLC and TUC earlier announcement of Wednesday planned nationwide strike action over the removal of fuel subsidy.
 

The presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, has lambasted the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), saying that most labour movements in the country have credibility problem as most of them are in bed with the system.
Sowore said this while speaking in an exclusive interview on MIC ON following the NLC and TUC earlier announcement of Wednesday planned nationwide strike action over the removal of fuel subsidy.
The labour movement has now suspended the nationwide action after a meeting with the Nigerian government on Monday.
He said that “The labour movement sat there when Peter Obi was saying "I will remove subsidy" and they said nothing about it.”
According to Sowore, “It sounds hypocritical now that they want to fight against removal of oil subsidy, but that is not the issue.
“The issue for me with the labour is credibility. If labour calls a meeting for us to have a strike or a protest, I will request for one thing, that the labour movement or the NLC or the TUC will not have the capacity to call off the strike.
“It will be calling off the strike but the protest will be done by another body that is composed of labour leaders, civil society groups, several other people that are interested because everyone of us has learnt our hard lessons with going to strike with labour.”
He said that “If you go and protest with labour, by 12 noon labour can leave you there and police will be beating you up. You will not hear from the labour movement because most of them are in bed with the system.
“And I am not afraid to say this publicly that the labour movement has a credibility problem.”