Posted by Thousands of people from all walks of life gathered in Jos, the capital of Plateau State, to demonstrate against the government’s decision to end fuel subsidies and the resulting economic hardships.
From the secretariat junction flyover bridge, the peaceful protesters made their way to the state and federal secretariats, where they were met by representatives from the Nigerian Labour Congress, Trade Union Congress, ASUU, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), Student Unions, and government entities from a variety of Institutions in the state.
Security personnel, including the police and NSCDC, were also present in large numbers, with State Police Commissioner Bartholomew Onyeka at the helm.
In his address to the crowd, Comrade Eugene Manji, Chairman of the NLC in the state, said, “We are here today on a protest embarked upon by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC), ASSU Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) Student Union Government bodies of various Institutions in Plateau State. We are representing Plateau State as we take part in the demonstration.
The problems we’re having and will have in the future are a direct result of the government’s terrible policies, which is why we’re protesting.
Now that September is almost here, I worry about how families will manage to cover their children’s school expenses.
“The rise in pump prices is another factor; some may have misunderstood our comments as intended to provoke the administration. In a flash, we jumped from N537 to N617, where our value today sits.
We warned the government to prepare for these effects by investigating the role foreign policies play in the economy before proceeding with the subsidy cut. People just won’t listen to reason about the precarious state of workers, he lamented.
What we’re saying is that if you buy now, you’ll know exactly what the price will be tomorrow since you’ve removed the subsidy, fixed our refineries, refined our gasoline, and made sure everything was sold in Nigerian naira and kobo.
We want to put an end to that; our government should hear the cry of Nigerians; we elected them. “But because you take the crude oil and refine it in the international market, bringing it and selling it in hard currencies, today the transportation is zero; insecurity in the country you can’t quantify. We’re taking this protest far, and if we don’t, you won’t see us again,” Manji vowed.
The state TUC chairman, Comrade Kenneth Shammah, added, “This is the first time in the history of Unionism where Labour was able to put a chatter of demands with solutions attached to it and we sent our demands to the government and we ask them because we gave them a practical and holistic approach in which they can be able to fix these things.
When this protest finally reaches the government, it will experience the full force of the crowd’s anger. How can we implement our policy of allowing the impoverished to breathe easier?
We’ve provided them with a straightforward example to follow because we’re familiar with the ins and outs of this system. The industry I come from is the hardest hurt by these policies, but they’re criticizing this model from behind the scenes”, he said.
Instead, the government secretly obtained a court injunction barring workers’ participation in a walkout. And we say no problem, we’re not going on strike, but let everybody who feels he’s being suffocated by the policies of the government that wants to breathe should come out let us protest, is not about NLC or TUC but about Nigerians, let us breathe and breath together, this is our country”, he maintained.
CP Onyeka praised the Unions for their organization and peaceful protests.
As he put it, “u must commend you to continue to be peaceful in your conduct, as I have done my research prior to this day and discovered that NLC and TUC protest has always been peaceful in this state.”
He urged everyone to keep the peace and work with the security forces to get the state free of criminals.