The Federal Government had, among other things, promised the implementation of a N35,000 wage award for civil servants, which, however, has not been paid up to date.
The pro-Tinubu group, operating under the platforms of the Nigeria Civil Society Forum (NCSF), claimed the strike was unnecessary and uncalled for.
Addressing newsmen at the Unity Fountain, a Co-convener of the forum, Comrade Sunday Attah, claimed Nigerian youths won’t allow the NLC and their collaborators to plunge Nigeria into anarchy.
He said, “We must understand the trajectory of how the NLC has operated over time. Remember in this same country when fuel subsidy was removed; they got up and claimed to be standing for Nigerians.
They fought and said the fuel subsidy should not be removed, but after a series of meetings, which, of course, today they are saying didn’t yield any fruit, we know how these ‘colour’ papers exchanged hands and matters died on the ground.
“We are not going to allow the NLC to plunge Nigeria into anarchy. Calling for a protest against an eight-month-old government is uncalled for.
“The President is doing his best; he is not a magician. All that Nigerians need at the moment is to be patient with the president. When a woman gets pregnant, it takes nine months for her to deliver, and when the child is born, it takes another one to two years for the child to walk. Why don’t the NLC support Mr. President to deliver dividends of democracy and fulfill all his campaign promises?
“What the NLC is doing is to play the normal card of getting the sympathy of Nigeria, go behind, negotiate, and collect money. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is not that kind of president. He wants to work for all Nigerians, and this is the reason why the president said give me time.
My policies may take a little time for us to adjust. These things happened even in civilized societies where government policies do not start manifesting and yielding fruits overnight; it takes a little process of time, and that is the process we are at the moment.
“Today we heard that state governors are not finding it difficult to pay salaries. For example, my state where I come from, the governor pays on the 25th of the month. That is because the allocations going to states have been increased by Mr. President, courtesy of all the reforms that he has brought.”
Also speaking, the Convener of the CSO forum, Comrade Terrence Kuanum, advised the NLC to consider going back to the negotiation table with the government.
Kuanum, who acknowledged that Nigerians are truly hungry, maintained that going on strike while the government has not shut its doors against negotiation would amount to a deliberate plot to antagonize it. He said, “You are already at the table with the government.
All of us want you to bring a solution from that negotiation table so that Nigerians will cushion the effects of what they’re going through, and we want this process to be properly done so that nobody will go anywhere sabotaging the system. We are against sabotage in the system.
“I am hungry, you are hungry, but it’s not by sabotaging the system or antagonizing the system that we can resolve this issue. We can only resolve this issue as patriotic Nigerians who are concerned that we need to resolve this problem and the generation next to us doesn’t face it.
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“We are giving them 24 hours to rescind the decision of the protest and go back to the table that we have agreed that they should be on. If they come out, we are calling on Nigerians not to respect any decision that will come from NLC and TUC because we are going to mobilize the masses to stay back and work for this country.
No strike can solve this problem. You go on strike to get the attention of policymakers; you are already with the policymakers, so what is the essence of the strike if not that someone is sponsoring sabotage?”
