The Nigerian Labour Congress has knocked the authorities of the Federal Capital Territory over its decision to withdraw the permission given to the organised labour to use Eagle Square in Abuja for their May Day celebration.
According to The PUNCH, the withdrawal came barely three days to the celebration of International Workers’ Day on May 1.
The General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Emmanuel Ugboaja, stated that the union received the information in a letter by the FCT minister through his administration’s agency.
He said, “They have withdrawn the permission and they don’t want to talk to us, the Minister of FCT has withdrawn our permission to use Eagle Square for the Mayday and clearly he is speaking for his government, it means the government does not want to address the workers, so they do not appreciate the work the workers have put over the years and we will not fail to appreciate ourselves.
“The withdrawal has no implication on workers. The Mayday will hold but not in Eagle Square. The workers will mark their day from the NLC to every nook and cranny of Nigeria.”
“The reason they gave was that they were renovating the Eagle Square for usage on May 29 and we will find it to be ultra lame. This is not the first time there will be an inauguration. We have had more than five to seven inaugurations in the past two decades and we have always held Mayday in the Eagle Square.
“The minister of FCT, through his agency, sent us a letter yesterday, It’s Workers’ Day and we have sought permission to use a venue and it was granted to us and later withdrawn, so it has nothing to do with the minister of Labour. If the withdrawal of our permission to use Eagle Square is a snippet of what they (workers) should expect, we are ready the way we have adjusted to it will prove to them that we are ready for whatever they are going to throw at us.”
On May Day, he said, “Workers should be prepared for the worst, the vindicators do not point towards any rosy future if we do not struggle. So it is going to be a war cry on May 1st, just for us to brace up to take the challenges we see coming forward”.
Attempts to contact the FCT’s Director of Information and Communication, Mr. Muhammad Sule, were futile because the Director did not return his calls.
The FCT minister’s Special Adviser on Media, Abubakar Sani, likewise declined to comment on the matter.
