Nigerians anxious, uncertain on how to proceed as NLC strike gets underway,

Nigerians have continued to express their anxieties about how the protest will affect them as the Nigerian Labour Congress begins its industrial action today.

The NLC on Tuesday dismissed an earlier report that the Organised Labour is reconsidering its decision to embark on a nationwide strike over the removal of petrol subsidy.

NLC said the strike, which is scheduled to begin with a mass protest on Wednesday, August 2, 2023, will proceed as planned.

Recall that after the rescheduled presidential steering committee on palliatives meeting held in Abuja on Tuesday, Festus Osifo, TUC president, said President Bola Tinubu’s announced measures were welcomed although they were not comprehensive enough.

Osifo said the Labour unions would consult with its members to reach a consensus on the next course of action before the day ends.

However, expressing worries regarding how he will commute to work on Wednesday, Okechukwu John, a customer solution expert who moves daily from the mainland to the island lamented that his office was yet to issue any mandate directing them to stay home or join the protest.

“I honestly do not know how I am going to get to the office today, because I know during industrial actions there are usually restrictions on movement,” Mr John said.

On his part, Adeola who identified himself as a student of University of Lagos said that his lecturers had informed them that there will be no academic activities in school today. According to him, the lecturers explained that they are part of the labour force and will be joining the protest.

Also speaking with PoliticsNow, A business owner Adeyinka Bamidele said she was going to close down her business till later in the day just in solidarity with the protest

“Na all of us this thing affect, I no go open shop until later in the day,” she said.

She however cited possibility of violence as another reason why she will not be opening her store until the protest is over.

A staff of the Lagos state government who spoke on the condition of anonymity told PoliticsNow that she will be joining the protest as the cost of living had outgrown what most citizens earned.

“I’m in support of the protest, I will even join the protest because we are all suffering, all we asked was for a better life and not a president that will plunge us into extreme poverty,” she said.