Press Statement WHY LABOUR—FG TALKS STALLED AND STRIKE/PROTESTS CONTINUE MONDAY

 15^th January, 2012

Press Statement

WHY LABOUR—FG TALKS STALLED AND STRIKE/PROTESTS CONTINUE MON

The talks between the Federal Government and Labour represented by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC)  in Abuja on Saturday 14^th January, 2012  stalled due to differences on the methodology in finding a solution to the crisis.

Labour’s analysis of the situation is that tension is very high in the land following the fuel price increase, the resultant strikes, rallies and street protests and the human causalities that have followed. And thata suspension of the new petrol prices will reduce tension and return the country to normalcy.

We decided to make a plea to President Goodluck Jonathan in the overriding interest of the country to suspend the PMS (petrol) price increases and direct that talks between government and Labour be concluded on the petroleum industry especially at it affects fuel subsidy and pricing within a short time frame.

We made a pledge that once the price increase suspension is announced, Labour and its allies will immediately suspend the strikes, rallies and street protests.

The summary of Labour’s position at the meeting was that talks and consultations were on-going before government aborted them by announcing the 120-220 per cent increase in the price of petrol, and that it is necessary to return to the status quo in order to douse tension, return the country to normalcy and allow for a conducive atmosphere for consultations and talks.

However, Government’s only offer was to reduce the new prices while declining to allow a phased price increase. We think that the government position will not return the country to normalcy. The Labour Movement pledges that whenever and wherever government invites us for talks, we shall be there without any conditionality.   

Objectives of the Strikes and Protests

The Labour Movement once again reiterate that the strikes, rallies and streets protests must be peaceful and that the objective is the reversal of the petrol (PMS) prices to their pre-January 1, 2012 level.  We are therefore not campaigning for ‘Regime Change’

The Labour Movement is wedded to democracy, therefore, anybody or group that wants a change in the political leadership of the country at whatever level, should do so through the ballot box.

The Labour Movement and its Civil Society allies are also saddened by the unprecedented loss of lives and injuries sustained during the indefinite strikes, rallies and streets protests that commenced from Monday January 9, 2012.

We reiterate that those who visit violence on protesters and their masters who gave such evil orders will individually be brought to justice.

We in the Labour Movement have done our duty to our country; we have made tremendous sacrifices including loss of lives; we have carried out the mandate of the Nigerian people; we can do no more.

For the avoidance of any doubt, the indefinite strikes, rallies and protests continue nationwide from Monday 16^th January, 2012.

Owei Lakemfa                                               John Kolawole

Acting General Secretary                             Secretary General

Nigeria Labour Congress                             Trade Union Congres

Fuels rage of Nigeria gas protests as users demand end of corruption

Protesters on day five of the nationwide strike following the removal of a fuel subsidy by the government, in Lagos and Abuja, Nigeria, Friday, Jan. 13, 2012. Unions in Nigeria announced on Friday a weekend pause in a paralyzing national strike amid new negotiations with the government over spiraling gasoline costs.

 

LAGOS, Nigeria — A nationwide strike and demonstrations have unleashed years of pent-up frustrations in Nigeria over its kleptocratic leaders, and the rage has grown even stronger across social media this week.

Twitter users shared pictures of dead protesters while others broke down the oil-rich nation’s 2012 budget figures, comparing funds allocated to the president and vice president’s offices with the cost of living of the average Nigerian. Hackers have targeted government websites, while others criticized local news coverage of demonstrations in nation where journalists often accept bribes from those they cover.

“I think the government has opened a can of worms and we are now picking each one at a time,” said Kola Oyeneyin, 31, an entrepreneur who uses Twitter to give protest updates.

Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets across Africa’s most populous nation to protest the government’s removal on Jan. 1 of a subsidy that had kept gasoline prices low for more than two decades. Overnight, prices at the pump more than doubled, from $1.70 per gallon (45 cents per liter) to at least $3.50 per gallon (94 cents per liter). The costs of food and transportation also doubled in a nation where most live on less than $2 a day.

President Goodluck Jonathan insists the move was necessary to save the country an estimated $8 billion a year, which he promises will go toward badly needed roads and public projects. But the president, who used Facebook to announce he would run in the nation’s presidential elections last year, has faced increasingly angry comments on his own profile where most offered praise in the past.

Protesters — who joined the current nationwide labor strike under the hash-tagged slogan of “Occupy Nigeria” — say the government is in no position to ask people to sacrifice in a nation with extravagant government spending and a history of widespread theft of billions by military rulers and politicians.

Nigeria, an OPEC member nation producing about 2.4 million barrels of crude oil a day, is a top supplier to the U.S., but virtually all of its petroleum products are imported after years of graft, mismanagement and violence at its refineries.

“They (the government) are saying that they need to save. OK, but do you need to save by making us pay for your waste?” Oyeneyin asked.

The country only recently passed a Freedom of Information bill granting, in theory, public access to documents. But the nation’s budgeting remains opaque at best in a nation that operated for years under an official secrets act that made unauthorized release of government information an imprisonable offense.

“People are now more informed about what’s going on and it won’t be long before we have an open and transparent government,” said Ngozi Sulaiman, a businesswoman who was sending photos to her Blackberry contacts from a protest in a posh Lagos neighborhood.

However, social media also has spread false information about government resignations in recent days as well. Text messages circulating the country also fed a rumor that a radical Islamist sect planned to infiltrate and bomb demonstrations.

A group of hackers also have attacked a series of government websites over several days, including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Friday.

Eager to calm public anger, government-aligned groups have published front-page newspaper advertisements for days trying to sell Nigeria’s more than 160 million people on the idea that money saved by removing fuel subsidies will go toward needed projects. While Nigeria has an unruly free press, underpaid journalists often accept so-called “brown envelope” bribes slipped into briefing documents at news conferences. And at least one private news channel in the country has gotten calls from government officials asking it not to broadcast live images of a daily demonstration in Lagos that drew more than 20,000 people on Friday alone.

Criticism of news on the state-run Nigerian Television Authority also sparked a protest outside its Lagos headquarters by more than a thousand people Thursday. The channel aired a short story on the protest 43 minutes into its nightly broadcast, after a host of pro-subsidy removal stories and commercials.

The protests will continue to be swayed by social media, despite low incomes, as Nigeria has the continent’s top mobile phone market and is estimated to have the largest online audience in Africa.

MESSAGE OF SUPPORT

                                                                                                               Lomé, 13th January 2012
O/R.: 002/2012/SG/RB

Dear Comrades,


ITUC-Africa expresses its support to the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria for the on-going struggle of Nigerian workers and people against astronomical fuel price hikes and to secure a reinstatement of Government subsidies on petroleum products in Nigeria.

We commend your initiative in acting together in the current strike action and in joining hands with progressive civil society allies to press home the legitimate demands of Nigerian workers and people. In particular, we welcome the outcry against corruption and the link between Government subsidies on petroleum products and a fairer distribution of the benefits of Nigeria’s oil wealth that have been articulated as part of the on-going struggle.

ITUC–Africa urges the leadership of the NLC and TUC to remain resolute in championing the interests of the Nigerian workers and to maintain the firm bonds of solidarity between the workers and other progressive forces in the country.

While wishing you courage in your struggle against the further impoverishment of Nigerian workers and people we also hope for the achievement of favourable outcomes in your negotiations with the Federal Government of Nigeria.


Yours Sincerely,




Kwasi Adu-Amankwah
General Secretary

PRESS STATEMENT WEEKEND BREAK FOR STRIKES, RALLIES AND PROTESTS

13th January, 2012 The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and Joint Action Front (JAF) commend the Nigerian people for turning out in their millions  since Monday January  9, 2012, to protest the astronomical increase in the price of PMS (Petrol).  We commend them for their resolute stand and insistence in struggling for a better country. The Labour Movement and its civil society allies after nationwide consultations has decided that this weekend, Saturday 14th  and Sunday  15thJanuary, 2012, will be observed as strike, protest and rally-free days. We ask Nigerians to utilize these days to rest, restock and get re-energized for the continuation of the strikes, rallies and protests from Monday 16thJanuary, 2012. Discussions with Government The NLC, TUC and their allies in the Civil Society Movement on Thursday 12th January,  2012 met with the Senate leadership, Nigeria Governors Forum and the Executive Arm. At the meeting,  Labour asked the Presidency to suspend the new petrol (PMS) price increases announced on January 1, 2012.  In return, we offered to suspend forthwith, the strikes, mass rallies and street protests. We also suggested that an expanded committee be set up which would discuss the fuel subsidy issue and pricing for petrol. The Government side presented a counter proposal asking Labour to negotiate new fuel prices. Since we had no such mandate, Labour declined and decided to return to its National Executive Council meetings which will be held on Saturday 14th January, 2012 for a possible expanded mandate. Labour commends the National Assembly for its intervention and further urges the Presidency to be more reconciliatory towards the people and show more understanding and sensitivity to their feelings and collective interests. Owei Lakemfa                                                       John Kolawole NLC Acting General Secretary                         TUC Secretary General

MASS PROTESTS FOR DAY 4 & 5 AT AREA 1 AND AT BERGER BRIDGE.

WE ARE NOT GIVING IN AND GIVING UP IN THE STRUGGLE UNTIL THE PRESIDENT DECIDES TO LISTEN TO THE MASSES WHO ELECTED HIM TO POWER.

THE PEOPLE SHOULD COUNT IN ALL AND EVERY DECISION THAT THE GOVERNMENT OF NIGERIA DECIDES TO TAKE.

DEMOCRACY SHOULD BE AND ALWAYS IS GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE AND BY THE PEOPLE..

Press Statement WE SALUTE NIGERIANS!

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and Civil Society Organisations commend workers and the Nigerian people for their overwhelming support and commitment to the fight against the sudden astronomical increase in the price of petrol.  The general strike and mass protests today was very successful, with a large number of Nigerians coming out to show their feelings against the insensitivity and callousness of the Federal Government in increasing petrol prices from N65 per litre to N141 and N250. However, we are sad that despite the resolve of workers and the Nigerian people to keep the protest peaceful, the Federal Government unleashed its security machinery against the people. As a result, some Nigerians were reportedly injured and killed in cold blood in Kano and Lagos. This mindless killing of unarmed Nigerians on a peaceful protest is strongly condemned, and the Inspector General of Police and President Jonathan will be held responsible for these senseless deaths. We have started the process with the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to bring these culprits to book. We call on workers and the Nigerian people to continue to participate actively everyday in the general strike and mass protests all over the country to ensure that the price of Petrol is brought back to N65 per litre. Stand up to be counted!    Chris Uyot Head of Information, NLC

Mass Protest.

The Nationwide strike in Abuja...

The turn out was very strong and the mass protest effectively carried out with  no injury or destruction to property or lives in the heart of the F.C.T. Some key dignitaries were in attendance, The area father, Charlie Boy, was also there, some of the Legislators were there to support us.

The Protest at Gwagwalada, was reported to take another dimension as the some of the buses that stubbornly insist on embarking on inter-state journey were disrupted from continuing their journey.