The leadership of the organised labour, on Monday, called on President Bola Tinubu to arrest the looming nationwide protest by dialoguing with the organisers of the planned action.
Comrade Joe Ajaero, the president of the Labour Congress who warned Mr Tinubu over the planned protest, said that millions of Nigerians are angry with his government over the current hunger and economic hardship facing the country.
He also called on Mr Tinubu to listen to the cry of the people, adding that many families cannot afford one square meal in a day.
He said, “As the date for the widely reported national protest looms, the Nigeria Labour Congress urges President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to invite the leadership of the protest movement for discussions on their grievances.
“The truth is that millions of Nigerians are angry about the state of the national economy. A situation where most Nigerian families are forced to eat one miserable meal a day and eating from the dustbin is now seen as luxury beckons for serious intervention by government.
“Corroborating a recent country living standards index assessment by the National Bureau of Statistics [NBS] which established that about 133 million Nigerians live below extreme poverty lines, the International Rescue Committee [IRC] posits that in the first three quarters of 2024, about 32 million Nigerians have been exposed to acute hunger.
“When this statistics is added to the millions that are being recruited into the armies of the unemployed and under-employed Nigerians, one can easily situate the hardship, pain, frustrations and despair that many Nigerians are going through right now.”
