The Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has pleaded with the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) not to embark on a strike over the removal of subsidy on petrol, arguing that shutting down the country won’t help the current situation.
Recall that the NLC last Friday, threatened to embark on strike from Wednesday this week, if the federal government and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) fails to revert to the old price of petrol from the new price of N510/litre.
Addressing journalists on Sunday after a post-inauguration church thanksgiving service, in Lagos, Sanwo-Olu appealed to the labour leaders to join hands with the Tinubu administration in its commitment to turn the economy of the country around.
His words, “We are thankful that Mr President is a product of Lagos. We will pray for him and everything that he stands for. We believe he will replicate all the good things he has done in Lagos in our country, Nigeria.
“I want to wish and plead with our citizens even as NLC has said to us that they want to go on strike. It is not the time for a strike. During the campaign trail, everyone of our presidential candidates did say that the first thing they are going to do is to remove the subsidy.
“So, what has changed? What has the current president said or what has he done that is different from what any of the other aspirants said they would do?
“We need to be very patient. He (President Tinubu) has not even done a week. So let us talk to ourselves and say that we shouldn’t turn it political. Let us wait and support this man. He has not done a week on the job. Let him go and reflect and at the sub-national level, we are willing to support him.
“The point is no industrial strike will solve anything at this point, it will certainly not bring an end to the issue. The point will be how are we going to ensure that there is a turnaround in our economy.
“He has mentioned something about a better wage. We have started that in Lagos. We started it in January; so other parts of the country can also do the same. We don’t need to wait for the national government. We just need to reflect on what the challenges are in our country and let us solve the problem.
“I want to plead with the Nigeria Labour Congress. It shouldn’t turn into a political thing because we have begun to see that. The leadership should know that they are leading a pack of people and they need to restrain themselves. Let us be patient. Let us work around it. NNPC has said that there is more than enough petrol.”
