The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) will organise a two-day statewide demonstration in response to Nigerians’ hardship and the country’s deteriorating security situation.
NLC President Joe Ajaero announced this during a press briefing in Abuja on Friday following an emergency meeting of the union’s National Executive Council (NEC).
He stated that the demonstration would begin a week after the 14-day ultimatum handed to the Federal Government, which will end on February 23.
The nationwide protest is scheduled to take place on February 27 and 28.
On February 8, the NLC and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) gave a two-week ultimatum to the government to meet demands ranging from wage increments to improved access to public utilities, and accused it of failing to uphold pledges to soften the impact of reforms.
Ajaero said the Federal Government should not flout the deadline of the 14-day ultimatum.
The organised labour lamented that millions of Nigerian workers are facing hunger, erosion of purchasing power and insecurity due to reforms that drove up inflation.
This followed President Bola Tinubu’s decision to scrap a popular but costly fuel subsidy last May coupled with his administration’s lifting of restrictions on currency trading, which more than tripled petrol prices.
Africa’s biggest economy is now grappling with a cost of living crisis, fueled by the highest inflation rate in nearly three decades.
The widespread insecurity has also hit agricultural output, fuelling food price inflation.
The unions in a statement, gave the government 14 days to deal with “issues crucial to the well-being of Nigerian masses and workers.”