NLC protest illegal – Ngige, Lai Mohammed

The Federal government has declared the ongoing protest by the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, on Tuesday illegal.

Speaking on the nationwide protest, Minister for Labour and Employment, Chief Chris Ngige said the protest was against international labour practices.

In the same vein, his information counterpart, Lai Mohammed, also described the protests as illegal saying it would cause anarchy in the country.

Meanwhile, the president of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Ayuba Wabba said the two-day protest was as a result of the ongoing the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), strike because NLC is directly affected.

ASUU had been on the negotiation table with the Federal Government for more than five months without any concrete achievement on the prolonged Industrial action, forcing the NLC to go on a two-day protest on July 26 and 27 in solidarity with ASUU.

Wabba speaking in an interview with the Sunrise Daily, a Channels Television programme, on Tuesday, explained that the protest was more than a solidarity action because the Labour Congress is directly affected.

He disagreed with the Federal Government’s stance which described the protest as illegal.

He stated that it is a democratic norm which is constitutional and supported by international charters.

According to the NLC President, if the government failed to resolve the issues after the two-day protest, congress would resort to a three-day warning strike.

He said: “The two-day warning strike is to call for attention and the issues to be resolved promptly. The next level is a three-day national warning strike if nothing has happened after the protest to show our grievances,” he said.

“These are democratic norms. Everywhere in the world, even as an individual, you have the right to air your grievances.

“It is within the provision of our law; it is backed by UN charter for human and people rights; African charter for human and peoples right. It is there in our constitution — section 39, 40.

“Even the court has pronounced that you don’t require any permission. It is legal and within your fundamental human rights to protest issues.

“When people say it’s illegal, I think people should remember that no condition is permanent. We have had some of our current politicians join NLC to press for similar action in the past.

“We are not on a solidarity action; we are affected directly.”