Renowned Lagos lawyer and activist, Mr Femi Falana (SAN) yesterday joined workers in Lagos State to observe the nationwide protest declared by organised labour.
The leadership and workers under organised labour yesterday ended the planned nationwide protest with a presentation of a letter of demands by labour to the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
In his remark after collecting the letter meant for the Federal Government via Lagos State government, the governor who was represented by his deputy Dr. Obafemi Hamza assured the protesters that the leadership of Lagos State is equally interested and working for a better Nigeria.
“Your demands which include having a dialogue with labour will be considered after which we shall get back to you. Having a better Nigeria is the goal of everyone, working together we shall get there,” the deputy governor assured.
Speaking with LEADERSHIP Newspaper, after the presentation of the letter, the national president of Food, Beverage and Tobacco Senior Staff Association (FOBTOB), Comrade Jimoh Oyibo, with president-general, Maritime Workers Union (MUWN), Comrade (Prince) Adewale Adeyanju, in different remarks, said the protest ended on Wednesday because it is only one day protest meant to sensitise Federal Government about the plights Nigerians have been further subjected to based on the high cost of living from the subsidy removal.
The state NLC chairman, Comrade Funmi Sessi, called on both federal and state governments to save the masses from dying of hunger.
Sessi said the focus of organised labour for this protest is based on, “Stomach infrastructure. As you can see multitude of people here now, most of them came on long treks on empty stomach because of negative government policies.
“We want Lagos State government to come out with N30,000 for each worker since the current salary of N30, 000 has been eroded with current economic realities.”
Earlier in his address, Falana challenged members of the National Assembly to cut the cost of governance.
“With the current realities, members of the House of Assembly should reduce the cost of governance. It is hard to believe that the government is planning facelifts for the premises and jumbo payment worth billions Naira because of subsidy removal for the National Assembly while millions of Nigerians are going through hard economic situations.
According to Falana, “Nigeria is not poor with multiple natural resources. Our mission here today is to present this letter for onward transmission to the Federal Government.”
Meanwhile, LEADERSHIP observed that economic and commercial activities went on well without hindrances at the Lagos seaports -Apapa and Tin-Can Island – despite the protest rally embarked upon by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC).
A visit to the nation’s seaport showed that container laden trucks were exiting the Apapa port while clearing agents were seen in the various terminals going about their businesses unhindered.
The public relations officer, Association of Nigerian Licenced Customs Agents (ANLCA), Tin-Can Island Ports, Com. Onome Monije, disclosed that activities are also going on smoothly at the Tin-Can Island port.
Monije said they thought some shipping companies would join in the protest rally but they haven’t recorded any glitch in service delivery.
“Activities are currently going on in the seaport and I can confirm to you that cargo delivery is currently taking place. Customs officers are also conducting examinations on cargoes and trucks exiting the port. Everywhere is calm and steady,” he stated.
In a chat with journalists, the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) confirmed that the nation’s Ports are not affected by the ongoing nationwide protest and strike action by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC)
The president-general of MWUN, Comrade Adewale Adeyanju, said the union has joined its other comrades to stage the protest at Lagos State Government Secretariat at Alausa, Ikeja.
He confirmed that negotiation meetings with the Federal Government are still ongoing to deliberate on the proposed palliatives for workers to cushion the effect of the removal of petrol subsidy.
“It is a protest and not a total shutdown, the Ports are working, as I speak with you, commercial activities are going on. I have directed that the Ports must not be shut. Since this is a protest, we have taken the protest to the government secretariat at Alausa Ikeja, that is where we are right now” Comrade Adeyanju stated.
In Ikeja Area of the state, commercial activities in the ever busy computer village were low key with most shops closed.
The handful that opened were however cautious with staff standing outside despite the absence of violence and the exit of the protesters who had moved on to the Governor’s office at Alausa.
Only food vendors and commercial vehicles operators were fully conducting their businesses.
Similarly, commercial banks and other formal enterprises seemed unfazed by the protests as they continued conducting their businesses.
