The nationwide protest organized by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) was a near flop in Rivers State, with a poor turnout that greeted the exercise. The protest couldn’t take off early as NLC officials were waiting for enough people to gather before commencement. They later set out around 11 am with scanty people, mostly NLC officials.
Indications of the poor turnout had earlier emerged from the reactions of participants in radio call-in programs. Many expressed a lack of interest in the protest, pointing to their distrust of labor, complaining that they did not have the people’s welfare at heart. They also pointed to previous alleged failures of the NLC in mobilizing people.
The crowd was so scanty that there were not enough persons to bear the several posters for the protest. However, they eventually marched through major streets of Port Harcourt, terminating at the Rivers State Government House.
There was a tight security presence of the police throughout the exercise as the protesters, clad in NLC white/green and red tops and carrying the labor flag, marched and danced to the rhythm from a sound system, singing the solidarity song. They also displayed placards capturing their concerns and requests from the government.
Addressing the crowd at the Government House gate, the State chairman of the NLC, Alex Agwanwor, outlined the demands of labor to the Federal Government to cushion the effects of alleged harsh economic policies that were bringing untold hardship to the populace. His speech drew from that of the National President of the NLC, Joe Ajiero.
Some of the demands include the need to address insecurity and herders/farmers clashes to encourage farming and boost food production. They also want the government to reduce the cost of energy and revisit the food importation policy, intensifying the campaign and encouragement for local production. They repeated the call to fix the nation’s refineries to reduce the rate of petrol importation and crash fuel prices and other costs. Agwanwor said, “Concerning the widespread hunger and frustration in the land, it is important that the Federal Government take action against insecurity in the land.”
In response, the Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, hailed workers in the state for conducting themselves in a peaceful manner on the first day of the two-day nationwide peaceful protest in the state. Fubara, who was represented by the Head of Service, Dr. George Nweke, commended the workers for organizing a hitch-free exercise, noting that in some states, protests were hijacked by hoodlums.
Fubara said, “I want to thank you for your peaceful disposition and conduct during the march. The Labour Congress in the State always shows a good example during protests. Of all the Labour unions in Nigeria, Rivers State ranks as one of the best organized. I watched on television protests that were supposed to be peaceful like that of the state being hijacked on the road by hoodlums, which is a mark of poor leadership. But as for yours, I can say that it was properly organized, and I say kudos to you all for that.”
On the issues presented in the speech to the Federal Government, the Head of Service observed that they were issues of national interest and assured the workers that he would hand the document over to Governor Fubara for transmission to President Tinubu for the needful.
“I have listened to every presentation you have made here, and I can testify that everything is included in this paper. I want to assure you that I will hand over the paper as presented to His Excellency, who has asked me to represent him on this special occasion. As I listened to the presentation, I could understand that none of the issues raised was local; they are all national issues. But I can assure you that we have hope in the Renewed Hope Agenda of the Federal Government, and we have hope in the State Governor of the State, Sir Sim Fubara, that he will deliver this message to President Ahmed Bola Tinubu as presented,” he assured.
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Furthermore, Nweke assured the people of the commitment of the State Governor to alleviating the sufferings and hardships of the people of the state.
