COVID-19: It won’t be business as usual – APC tells workers

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has greeted Nigerian workers on the 2020 commemoration of the International Workers’ Day, reminding them that it will not be business as usual after the lockdown is lifted.
In a statement issued by the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Lanre Issa-Onilu, APC said “The 2020 International Workers’ Day, also known as Labour Day, or May Day, comes at a time the world is combating the deadly Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has kept economies across the world locked down.
“No doubt, the COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented disruption in our normal lives, particularly work.
“However, the long-term consequences of the pandemic — how it will reshape our work culture, ways of doing business, provision of services and new opportunities — are still difficult to imagine.
“We enjoin Nigerian workers to use the lockdown to equip themselves with information and skills that will enable them productively function in the changing global work culture and tap into opportunities that the eventual and gradual easing of the lockdown will bring.
“The APC acknowledges the tireless efforts, resilience, patience and commitment of the Nigerian workers in the onerous task of nation building.
“While assuring our workers that the Federal Government would continue to prioritise their welfare, the APC also assures that President Muhammadu Buhari is putting all necessary measures in place to ensure that workers and, indeed, all Nigerians are not negatively impacted from the economic effects of the pandemic now and in the future.
“The various economic stabilisation policies by the government and the establishment of the Economic Sustainability Committee by the President, which is headed by the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, is a clear demonstration of the seriousness the Federal Government attaches to the well-being of Nigerian workers in particular, and Nigerians in general.
“We urge workers not to relent in their support for this administration as we battle COVID-19, in addition to getting the nation’s economy back on its trajectory of growth as quickly as possible.”