Labour union leaders in Anambra, on Tuesday, joined their counterparts across the country to stage a protest against the removal of fuel subsidy.
The leaders of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC), Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), and National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in the state, among others, took part in the protest march.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the groups matched from the headquarters of Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Awka, to the popular Dr. Alex Ekwueme Square, Awka.
The protesting unionists carried placards with inscriptions such as: “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu -led Federal Government policies should know that Nigerians are dying over the subsidy removal on the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS)“.
The Chairman of NLC in the state, Comrade Humphrey Nwafor, who addressed the protesters, described the policy on fuel subsidy as causing untold hardship to Nigerians.
His TUC counterpart, Chris Ogbonna, also said the Federal Government threw all Nigerians into untold hardship by the policy.
“Nigerians should say no to antipeople’s policies, increase in fuel price, increase in poverty and criminality”, they said.
The NLC chair explained that due to the peculiar situation in the state, members who could have participated in the protest from various parts of the state, particularly, Onitsha, Ihiala, Nnewi, Ekwusigo, Ekwulobia were unable to make it to Awka to join in the protest.
ASUU UNIZIK Chairman, Prof. Kingsley Ubaorji, said corruption was the bane of the country’s socio-political and economic development.
Ubaorji said until corruption was killed, Nigeria would not be able to breathe.
The TUC chairman called on the Federal Government to reverse the removal of the oil subsidy as it has obvious negative implications.
“We call on President Bola Tinubu to revert to the price of petrol before he was sworn in on May 29 and to ensure that the pump price of petrol is less than N200 per litre”, he said.
(NAN)
