Strike: Group Cautions Labour

As the recent petrol subsidy removal continues to generate mixed reactions among Nigerians, an Abia-based group, Concerned Advocate for Good Governance (CAGG), has urged the organised labour not to overheat the polity.

The group in a statement in Aba on Saturday, said: “It is not in doubt that the subsidy removal will create hardship, but it will be temporal”.

The statement issued by the group’s National Coordinator, Mr. Olusegun Bamgbose, assured the people that the hardship would reduce with time.

“The labour movement has a right to peaceful protest but this should be handled very carefully, so that politically –mischievous ones will not seize the opportunity to sabotage the government.

“We cannot allow the corporate existence of the country to be tampered with in the name of mass protest, the political climate of Nigeria at present does not call for mass protest,” the statement said.

It urged labour to explore other means of expressing its grievances on the issue, adding that “the nation cannot survive without making sacrifices”.

“No pain, no gain, let us give President Goodluck Jonathan the benefit of doubt,” it said.

Meanwhile, Governor  Theodore Orji of Abia State has appealed to Organised Labour to negotiate with the Federal Government to resolve some of the issues from the removal of fuel subsidy.

The governor said in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Ugochukwu Emezue, that he sympathised with Nigerians over their pains they faced from the removal of subsidy.

He pleaded with the people to be patient as the nation marched toward economic greatness and expressed belief that their sacrifices would help in moving the nation forward.

It appealed to workers in Abia to resume work since there was no dispute between them and the government.

The statement said the safety of the workers was assured if they returned to work.