Northern group tongue-lashes NLC, TUC over suspension of strike

From: Femi Oyelola, Kaduna

Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG), has strongly condemned the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) for betraying Nigerians by suspension of a planned mass action on Monday, September 28, 2020 to force the Government of Nigeria to reverse the hike in electricity and fuel pump prices.
The group registered its dismay at a press conference held in Kaduna yesterday.
Spokesperson of CNG, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, said after sufficiently mobilizing Nigerians, NLC and the TUC surprisingly announced a 2-weeks suspension ostensibly following an agreement at a meeting with government officials on the eve of the planned action.
Suleiman stated that the package reached at by the labour leaders and the Federal Government merely offers temporary relief to a minor section of the population with the vast majority condemned to suffer the hash realities perpetually, as prohibitive fuel prices inadvertently reflect on other commodities.
“The entire palliative package does not reflect the overall interest of the mass of suffering Nigerians outside the fold of the NLC and TUC which collectively accounts for only about 0.5 per cent of the total national population.
“That this capitulation by the labour leadership signals the need for the formation of an alternative unified, more confident, and consistent national front for undertaking further autonomous actions outside the workers’ unions,” he said.