The Trade Union Congress (TUC) has reacted to a remark made by President Bola Tinubu, in which he advised labor unions to cease their protests and instead participate in the political process in 2027.
At the inauguration of the Lagos Red Line project on Thursday, the President emphasized the importance of peace, stating that they alone do not represent the entirety of Nigerian voices.
In response to the President’s comments on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday, Festus Osifo, the President of the TUC, asserted that members of their union are not politicians and reiterated their right to protest.
“I listened to that comment yesterday where he said that we should wait for 2027 if we want to contest for elections. I could speak for Trade Union Congress, we are not politicians, we are unionists, it is our right to protest – it is a fundamental right of every single Nigeria,” Osifo said.
“So we don’t have issues with protests, when need be, people will exercise their rights and people must protest. In terms of waiting till 2027 to enter into politics, I don’t think that is something we could dabble into because I as an individual I am not a card-carrying member of any political party.
“What I am interested in is the welfare of my members and indeed the entire Nigerian masses. So, what the president said for me is alien to us because the right to protest and the right to strike is that of the workers.
“There are condition precedents, for the fact that you are going on protest or strike, there are some things that led to it, those fundamental issues must be addressed.”
‘We’re not sellouts’
Osifo also addressed remarks suggesting that the TUC betrayed the NLC by abstaining from participating in the recent protest against hardship on Tuesday.
He clarified that the TUC was never involved in any agreement to participate in the protest and therefore cannot be considered as having opted out.
“I’ll just explain exactly what happened to you. Now, you see when you have when you say somebody opt out from a process, it means that the person was in before, it means that there was an agreement to do something.
“When there is an agreement to do something at the last minute, you will not say I am not doing again. That is opting out, then you can use the word sold out. But in this scenario, there wasn’t any agreement to do anything.
“We did not have any conversation; nobody even mentioned it to us that this is the direction to go. That conversation never took place. So as long as that also never took place, we never opt out of anything. If there was an initial agreement that let’s go for a protest, the winner say we are not going for that protest.
“You could call that opt out, you could call that sold out, you could call that anything. But in this scenario, there was no understanding at all. In fact, there was no discussion that could have even led to any understanding,” he said.
Osifo’s response to the President’s statements echoed the sentiment expressed by the Nigerian Labour Congress earlier that Friday.
In a statement, NLC President Joe Ajaero emphasized that their focus lies not on Tinubu’s stance but on urging the implementation of all agreements between the labor unions and the Federal Government subsequent to the removal of fuel subsidy.
Ajaero highlighted the NLC’s dissatisfaction with the President’s remarks, particularly regarding the role of labor in governance, which they deemed incongruent with the challenges faced by ordinary Nigerians due to existing policies.