Naira scarcity: NLC declares nationwide strike, protests at CBN

 

Due to the country's severe cash shortage, the Nigerian Labour Congress on Wednesday formally launched a statewide strike. At a press conference for the media in Abuja, the union's national president, Joe Ajaero, issued the instruction.

Additionally, he ordered that the NLC's affiliate unions be prepared to protest at any of the country's Central Bank of Nigeria locations.

The NLC gave the Federal Government a seven-day deadline to stop the country's cash and fuel shortages, as The PUNCH had previously reported.

In an interview with journalists, Ajaero claimed that after the ultimatum's expiration, the NLC turned to industrial action as a final alternative.

He claimed that the federal government and the CBN had failed to demonstrate any commitment to resolving the issue, making the choice to picket the CBN branches imperative.

Ajaero bemoaned the fact that things kept growing worse despite the Supreme Court's ruling that the old N200, N500, and N1000 notes will continue to be valid until December 31, 2023.

He claimed that employees lacked access to funds to pay for transportation to work or to buy food for their families.

He also criticized the petroleum industry's price inconsistencies.

"We provided a deadline for a review of the country's cash constraint last week, but we have learned to our dismay that not much has been done to improve the situation as of yet.

The government is still dragging its feet on the concerns we brought up, according to Ajaero.

"In light of this, we reconvened this morning to discuss our stance and decided that by the following Wednesday, all CBN branches would be picketed. People cannot eat, employees can no longer go to the office, and we have been pushed to the wall, so workers are instructed to stay at home as well.

"We have made the decision to take control of our destiny, and we have organized our workforce for this exercise."

The Academic Staff Union of Universities, the Nigeria Union of Pensioners, and the National Union of Road Transport Workers are just a handful of the 43 unions that the NLC is affiliated with, according to The PUNCH.

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