By Sam Kayode
The protests organised nation wide by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) was held peacefully in Maiduguri on Wednesday in the vicinity of their secretariat in the Borno capital.
This is because of the peculiarity of Borno State which is still battling with insurgency as a result processions and gatherings of any sort has been embargoed by the state to avoid sympathizers of the Boko Haram infiltrating their ranks and causing resultant damages.
However, the organized labor Wednesday morning converged at the NLC Secretariat in the New GRA to protest against what the leadership referred to as “anti-poor policy” of the administration of President Bola Tinubu.
They later matched from the Secretariat to that of the Nigerian Union of Journalists NUJ all within the same vicinity despite resistance by security agents who insisted that their demonstration should be held within the Secretariat in GRA behind NUJ for security reasons.
While strolling along the vicinity the protest sang peacefully with members carrying placards with different inscriptions such as “hunger and poverty do not know any tribe, religion, party or geopolitical arrangements; increase in school fees will cause increase in number of out of school children among others.”
Addressing members of the Union, NLC Chairman Comrade Yusuf Inuwa represented by the Vice Chairman one Comrade Mamman Bukar commended civil servants and other members of the organised labour for their resilience in the struggle for a better life for members.
He commended them for daring to come out at all despite the harsh economic situation at hand and the security threats all around residents in the state.
The chair demanded for the immediate reversal of recent hike in petrol price, school fees and value added tax VAT, revitalization of all the four local refineries among others to bring succour to Nigerians.
The NLC leadership assured members of the Union that regardless of what happens, the struggle will continue until their demands are met.
