CSOs in Warri protesting hike in electricity tariff and fuel price.
Ovedhe Hezekiah-Warri
A Coalition of Civil Society Groups in Delta State has booed the Nigeria Labour Congress,NLC for suspending its planned nationwide strike action which was billed to take place Monday September 28.
CSOs spoke at a peaceful protest at the Ebrumede roundabout in Uvwie Local Government Area, they registered their displeasures at the NLC, condemning the hike in petrol and electricity tariff and the Water Resources Bill pending before the National Assembly, which they termed “government’s anti-people policies”.
The coalition rejected the positions of the NLC in suspending the strike.
In a chat with newsmen, a legal practitioner, Mr. Omemiroro Maxwell Ogedegbe Esq said, “we know the politics in NLC. It is unfortunate. We do not have a functional Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC. We are saying it, the Nigerian people reject the position of the NLC. We are not in alliance with the NLC.”
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A human right activist, Comrade Israel Joe also in a chat with newsmen said, “for NLC to jettison out of a protest and suspended strike action we have mobilized and prepared for, I think we are dissatisfied with the positions of the NLC.
“We are not happy with the NLC’s decisions because they don’t know what it takes to pay for darkness. They don’t know what it takes for the common man to put fuel in the generator to run his barbing saloon.
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“That’s why we as a Coalition of Civil Societies in Delta State are coming out to make our positions to federal government that they must look into the electricity tariff hike, the fuel hike, the water resources Bill and see a better way to reverse these prices to ameliorate the sufferings of the Nigerian people.”
Mr. Kelvin Ejumudo, another member of the CSO who also aligned himself with the positions of his colleagues disclosed that he spends N2000 daily to fuel his generator.
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According to him, this amounts to about N66,000 in a month. He described the hike in petrol and electricity as an aberration just as he disagreed and expressed his displeasures with the Federal Government.
Others who also spoke at the brief protest urged the federal government to rescind its decisions especially as its concerns the hike in petrol and electricity tariff to save the people from further hardships.
