The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has called on President Bola Tinubu to engage with the leaders of a planned nationwide protest over economic hardship and to address the challenges facing citizens.

“As the date for the widely reported national protest looms, the Nigeria Labour Congress urges President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to invite the leadership of the protest movement for discussions on their grievances,” stated NLC President Joe Ajaero in a Monday release.

Ajaero highlighted that with inflation at 34.19 per cent, coupled with increased food and electricity tariffs, there is a pressing need for President Tinubu to address these issues.

“It is condescending and dismissive to describe the daily hardships Nigerians face as a politically sponsored dissent. Even if it is, it remains within citizens’ rights to protest on political grounds. The current unrest in the country does not need political motivation to spark,” Ajaero asserted.

“All that citizens demand from their government is a listening ear and an empathetic heart. Perhaps, this is what the protest organisers seek, given their ongoing notices on various social media platforms.”

The NLC criticised the Nigerian government’s “hostility” towards the planned protest, stating it does not “offer any tangible remedy either to the pain endured by the populace or the frustrations of having so little in a country where a few privileged persons live in obscene luxury at the expense of the majority. These are dire times. Nigerians are angry.”

“The times require the government to engage in dialogue, not conflict, with Nigerians. The truth is that you cannot punish a child and then ask the child not to cry,” he added.