Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has pleaded with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) not to embark on its proposed nationwide strike over petrol subsidy removal slated for Wednesday as President Bola Tinubu means well for the country’s economy.
This was made known by Governor Sanwo-Olu on Sunday while speaking to journalists after the Post-inauguration Church Thanksgiving Service held at the Cathedral Church of Christ, Marina in Lagos on Sunday, June 4, 2023.
He pleaded with the Union that it should not turn its planned nationwide strike over the removal of petrol supply into a political thing as they have begun to see that.
The Governor implored labour leaders to exercise patience on its proposed planned strike.
“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, every one 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 had 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.”
“Let us be patient. Let us work around it. NNPC has said that there is more than enough petrol. So there is no need for us to begin to heat up the polity. There is no need for us to begin to get political; it is governance now and people just want to see purposeful governance.
“So let the President settle to do the job and he has said to us he is going to put in place a team that will take the country out of poverty and that is what we are praying for.”
