By Hutson Akugbe, Abuja/Nigeria.
Following the declaration of a proposed nation wide strike by the Nigeria Labour Congress, slated for Monday the 28 of September 2020. The National orientation agency has called for a dialogue between the NLC and the federal government of Nigeria, stressing the need for both parties to find a common ground to resolving the tariff hikes in PMS and electricity in the country.
This was made known in a statement signed by Mr. Paul Odenyi, the Assistant Director, Press of the NOA.
He said the Director General of the Agency, Dr. Garba Abari urged labour and the federal government to continue to avail themselves of the platforms for debate and negotiations provided by government, especially now that the government is making effort to reactivate the economy following the global economic slow down occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to him, “calling for protests and strikes at this period hardly can help in the very difficult task of navigating the nation through the challenges thrown up by the impact of COVID19″
However, the Agency also appealed to Nigerian public to come to terms with the economic realities of the time which require aggressive revenue drive, removal of unsustainable subsidies as a way of growing the economy and attracting the needed investment funds into the country.
He added that ” we should be talking about how to create jobs and this is the time to let private enterprises and investments determine the cost of goods and services in order to provide jobs and services in the country.
What government is doing is simply to provide the environment for huge private sector investment in the oil and gas sectors and energy sub-sector”
The Director General admonished the labour body to inspire a new sense of productivity among workers that will ensure greater output and growth in the economy.
