The deputy governor of Niger State, Yakubu Garba, on Wednesday, joined the protest organised by the leadership of the Nigerian Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress in the state on Wednesday.
DAILY NIGERIAN reports that organised labour, had kicked off a protest across the country over the removal of fuel subsidy and anti-poor policies of the federal government.
Speaking after he led the protesters to the state House of Assembly complex, Mr Garba said the upward review of workers’ salaries across all levels would better cushion the effects of the fuel subsidy removal on citizens.
He noted that the planned palliative initiative would not be sustainable.
Mr Garba, who is the immediate past NLC Chairman in the state, argued that the labour unions were not part of the policy formulators, adding that they must be allowed to check the actions of government at all levels.
“Labour is not against the government. If there is any sincere driver of government policies, it is organised labour. But labourers are not leaders who make policies.
“So, any policy that government formulates should have a human face so that the masses do not suffer,” Mr Garba said.
He disclosed that the state government was working on ways, in collaboration with the state House of Assembly, to provide opportunities that would cushion the effects of the fuel subsidy on citizens of the state.
Earlier in his remarks, the state TUC Chairman, Ibrahim Gana, lamented that since the beginning of the subsidy removal, the salaries of workers in the state was being spent on transportation to work.
According to him, the residents have been subjected to untold hardship due to the rising cost of food and other essentials.
Also speaking, the state NLC Chairman, Idris Lafene, said the labour union would not back out of its demands.
He said part of its demands from the state government was the payment of N60,000 palliatives to all workers across all levels in the state.
Addressing the protesting union members, the Speaker of the Niger State House of Assembly, Abdulmalik Sarkin-Daji, said he was in support of the protest because of the untold hardship the removal of the fuel subsidy had caused the citizens.
