THE Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has pleaded with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) not to go on strike.
The NLC had threatened to strike on Wednesday as petroleum prices rose following President Bola Tinubu’s pronouncement that the fuel “subsidy is gone.”
Governor Sanwo-Olu, on the other hand, has encouraged the labour union to call off the strike, saying the NLC and the Federal Government should work together to devise strategies to mitigate the impact of the removal.
“So, I want to plead with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) that it should not turn it into a political thing because we are beginning to see that. The leadership should indeed know that they are leading a pack of people and they need to restrain themselves,” he said today after a post-inauguration “Thanksgiving Service” at the Cathedral Church of Christ in Marina, Lagos.
“Let us be patient; let us work around [issues around subsidy removal]. NNPCL has said to us that there is more than enough petrol to go round. So, there is no need for us to heat up the polity. Any strike would not solve anything. It will certainly not be the issue. The point would be: ‘How are we going to ensure that there is a turnaround in our economy that we can live?’
Sanwo-Olu went on to say that the Nigerian leader is working out plans to mitigate the effects of the subsidy removal just as Lagos State has started rolling out modalities for that.
“He [Tinubu] has mentioned something around better ways. We have started that in Lagos State. We pride ourselves that we have started it in January. Other parts of the country can also do the same. So, there is no need for us to get political. It is governance now and people want to see purposeful governance. Let the man [Tinubu] settle down. He has said he will form a team that would take the country out of poverty.”
