The nationwide protest called by the organised labour started in Abuja at the Unity Fountain around 7.00 am with Joe Ajaero, the President of NLC, leading the protesters and mobilising others to join the protest. Hundreds marched through major Nigerian cities on Wednesday on the first day of a nationwide strike to protest at the removal of a petrol subsidy and demand a new minimum wage but businesses remained open, though with reduced traffic in some places. Ajaero was joined by some other union leaders like Muhammed Ibrahim, the National President of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, representatives of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, National Union of Road Transport Workers among others at the Unity Fountain. In Yenagoa, the capital of Bayelsa State, protesters came out early in compliance with the directives of the state NLC.
The protesters, were out by 7.00 am along Mbiama-Yenagoa Road marching to Government House. In Kano, the protest, which started on Tuesday, continued on Wednesday with protesters already gathered at Gidan Murtala as 7.00 am. The crowd was later dispersed by some policemen. In Oyo State, the protest started in Ibadan, the state capital, on Monday with the gates to the state secretariat closed to workers. It spread to Oyo town later in the day and became full blown on Tuesday. In Lagos The Department of State Services has dispatched some of its personnel to the Lagos State Assembly premises, where members of the Nigeria Labour Congress are currently protesting. The operatives were seen on the premises of the complex, as demonstrators gathered at the gate’s entrance. Some angry protesters pulled down the gate of the National Assembly in Abuja to gain entrance into the complex.
In Benin the Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, said his administration will disburse N500 million monthly to poor households in the State as palliative to cushion the effect of the economic hardship caused by the subsidy removal, while speaking to members of the Edo State Chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) led by the Chairman, Odion Olaye and other labour unions, who were at the Government House, Benin City, on a peaceful protest over the hardship faced by workers and Nigerians as a result of the subsidy removal. Reaffirming his government’s commitment to the welfare and well-being of workers and all Edo people, Obaseki said his government will sustain efforts to reduce the suffering and hardship inflicted on the people by the APC-led federal government.“On May 1st this year, I warned Labour that we are likely to face the condition and situation we face today. I warned you in that speech not to wait but be proactive and plan ahead. Look at where we are today.
We in Edo State will do our own bit and I have decided that every month, going forward, we will take N500 million from our money to give to the poorest of the poor in Edo State.”
The governor further charged, “I want to alert you to reject the palliative they want to give to you. It’s a continuation of the fraud that the Federal Government has always undertaken against the people of Nigeria. The so-called money for palliative should be given to the local government which is closer to the people to take care of their people. You can’t buy grains from Abuja because the money to transport it alone is enough to take care of the people. We should stop this palliative fraud in Nigeria. I call on the Nigerian Labour Congress to reject the Federal Government’s palliative. Let them give local governments the money to give to the people as the Federal Government doesn’t have any business buying grains as palliative to be distributed across the 774 LGAs in Nigeria.”
